Written question asked by Mike Wood (Batley and Spen) (Labour) on Monday, 23 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 25 July 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 3 September 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Driving Offences: Mobile Phones

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were stopped for using mobile telephones while driving in the latest period for which figures are available; how many subsequent prosecutions there were; and what the outcome was of those prosecutions.

Answer: Information on the number of drivers stopped for using hand held mobile phones while driving is not collected centrally.The latest figures for prosecutions and outcomes are for 2004. These show that for England and Wales there were 789 prosecutions and 641 convictions for using a hand-held mobile phone while driving. This offence can also be dealt with by the offer of a fixed penalty and there were in addition 73,796 tickets paid.2005 data will be available later this year.

Secondary information