Recently published Home Office figures show that fewer motorists in England and Wales are being prosecuted for driving whilst speaking on their mobile phones, even though more people seem to be doing it. The problem was highlighted last week when Children’s Secretary Ed Balls was caught using his mobile whilst on the move. His excuse was that he did not want to wake his children, who were sleeping on the back seat of the car.

Motoring organisations have been calling for something to be done about the conviction rate of those caught on the blower while driving for some time. A spokesman for the Institute of Advanced Motorists said the problem was that people simply thought they would not be caught.

The rate of convictions for the offence in 2006/7 was 167,000. For 2008/9 the number of convictions dropped to 116,000. However, research shows that this is not because more drivers are obeying the law. A roadside survey, conducted for the Department for Transport, recently showed that the number of offenders has actually risen by 27 per cent.

According to the survey, truck and van drivers are the motorists who most often break the law. The country’s emergency services are claiming that the increased use of mobile phones by motorists is leading to an increase in accidents. One paramedic estimated that almost half the accidents he was called out to attend had something to do with illegal mobile phone use.

Safety camera operators were told recently that they would now be allowed to bring convictions against people they recorded driving whilst on the phone.