Information requested on the number of drivers stopped or charged for using hand held mobile phones while driving is not collected centrally. Data on court proceedings for the offence have been provided in lieu of charging.
Available information taken from the Court proceedings Database held by the Ministry of Justice from 2003 to 2006 (latest available) is provided in table 1. 2007 data should be available end of November 2008.
As the majority of ‘use of hand held mobile phone while driving’ offences are dealt with by the issue of a fixed penalty notice, data on the number issued are also included in table 2, covering the period from 2003 to 2006.
Number of offences 2003 2004 Police force area Total court proceedings2 Total findings of guilt Total number of court fines Total court proceedings2 Total findings of guilt Total number of court fines Avon and Somerset 0 0 0 19 19 18 Bedfordshire 1 1 1 5 5 5 Cambridgeshire 0 0 0 7 6 6 Cheshire 0 0 0 2 1 1 Cleveland 0 0 0 4 3 3 Cumbria 0 0 0 24 24 23 Derbyshire 0 0 0 17 16 16 Devon and Cornwall 0 0 0 19 17 16 Dorset 0 0 0 0 0 0 Durham 0 0 0 1 1 1 Essex 0 0 0 28 25 25 Gloucestershire 0 0 0 1 1 1 Greater Manchester 0 0 0 73 65 64 Hampshire 0 0 0 18 15 15 Hertfordshire 0 0 0 6 6 6 Humberside 0 0 0 4 4 4 Kent 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lancashire 0 0 0 17 16 15 Leicestershire 0 0 0 12 9 8 Lincolnshire 0 0 0 9 5 5 London, City of 0 0 0 7 5 5 Merseyside 0 0 0 22 20 10 Metropolitan Police 0 0 0 203 124 116 Norfolk 0 0 0 20 15 13 Northamptonshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 Northumbria 0 0 0 32 29 26 North Yorkshire 0 0 0 18 18 16 Nottinghamshire 0 0 0 8 7 6 South Yorkshire 0 0 0 12 12 11 Staffordshire 0 0 0 11 10 9 Suffolk 0 0 0 7 4 4 Surrey 0 0 0 9 7 7 Sussex 0 0 0 1 1 1 Thames Valley 0 0 0 24 21 20 Warwickshire 0 0 0 7 7 7 West Mercia 0 0 0 17 15 14 West Midlands 0 0 0 61 52 46 West Yorkshire 0 0 0 11 9 9 Wiltshire 0 0 0 21 19 18 Dyfed-Powys 0 0 0 13 13 13 Gwent 0 0 0 0 0 0 North Wales 0 0 0 3 3 3 South Wales 0 0 0 16 12 11 England and Wales 1 1 1 789 641 596
2005 2006 Police force area Total court proceedings2 Total findings of guilt Total number of court fines Total court proceedings2 Total findings of guilt Total number of court fines Avon and Somerset 47 39 38 54 48 48 Bedfordshire 16 13 13 76 62 60 Cambridgeshire 19 19 19 52 46 42 Cheshire 15 14 14 36 30 29 Cleveland 7 7 6 20 16 14 Cumbria 41 35 34 57 53 52 Derbyshire 52 49 48 35 30 29 Devon and Cornwall 27 25 24 52 42 39 Dorset 3 3 1 4 3 2 Durham 2 2 2 16 15 15 Essex 64 53 46 71 65 60 Gloucestershire 4 4 4 10 7 6 Greater Manchester 154 136 124 183 158 144 Hampshire 40 34 33 69 63 62 Hertfordshire 70 64 61 65 52 51 Humberside 25 22 21 45 39 35 Kent 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lancashire 48 46 39 62 48 44 Leicestershire 28 26 20 26 24 16 Lincolnshire 15 12 11 30 24 23 London, City of 14 12 12 24 20 20 Merseyside 27 23 14 46 41 27 Metropolitan Police 658 545 496 685 588 541 Norfolk 21 17 17 31 21 19 Northamptonshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 Northumbria 22 20 20 98 89 84 North Yorkshire 35 30 29 34 33 32 Nottinghamshire 26 24 18 17 15 13 South Yorkshire 25 21 17 43 32 30 Staffordshire 21 21 19 19 16 16 Suffolk 22 17 17 21 16 15 Surrey 91 82 82 92 88 87 Sussex 2 2 1 0 0 0 Thames Valley 126 112 106 211 175 172 Warwickshire 17 13 8 20 16 14 West Mercia 59 50 48 88 74 70 West Midlands 109 88 79 121 94 89 West Yorkshire 47 38 36 52 37 29 Wiltshire 29 22 21 38 32 32 Dyfed-Powys 16 13 13 15 14 13 Gwent 4 3 3 6 4 3 North Wales 17 13 12 30 26 25 South Wales 25 20 20 28 21 18 England and Wales 2,090 1,789 1,646 2,682 2,277 2,120 1 Offences under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, Regulations 110(1), 110(2) and 110(3). Introduced 1 December 2003. 2 Includes cases where a fixed penalty notice was originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
December Police force area 2003 2004 2005 2006 England Avon and Somerset — 1,902 2,502 2,666 Bedfordshire 10 579 944 1,749 Cambridgeshire — 219 1,347 3,505 Cheshire — 2,689 2,891 4,985 Cleveland 13 1,066 1,955 2,263 Cumbria 13 528 1,021 1,412 Derbyshire 13 978 1,501 2,718 Devon and Cornwall 345 796 1,482 1,892 Dorset — 521 657 1.982 Durham2 — 504 963 1,004 Essex — 2,431 4,369 6.857 Gloucestershire 147 632 1,208 1,484 Greater Manchester — 8,166 12,904 16,386 Hampshire 54 2,032 4,078 6,614 Hertfordshire — 2,526 3,923 4,614 Humberside — 381 1,202 1,924 Kent 15 1,707 4,829 4,708 Lancashire 34 1,719 3,079 3,937 Leicestershire 17 759 254 1,109 Lincolnshire 7 1,529 2,514 3,273 London, City of 45 137 1,647 2,077 Merseyside — 1,836 5,684 8,800 Metropolitan 681 13,581 18,035 22,640 Norfolk3 17 887 904 — Northamptonshire 1 297 971 1,428 Northumbria 56 1,271 2,409 3,248 North Yorkshire 5 720 1,289 2,414 Nottinghamshire — 653 1,637 3,022 South Yorkshire 28 1,978 3,978 3,109 Staffordshire 12 264 2.346 2,416 Suffolk 42 978 1,707 2,613 Surrey 164 2,213 3,575 3,988 Sussex — 546 1,105 2,318 Thames Valley 25 3,716 7.111 3,587 Warwickshire — 621 918 1,281 West Mercia — 2,200 5,246 6,842 West Midlands 144 3,864 5,065 4,661 West Yorkshire — 2,368 4,272 4,997 Wiltshire — 700 1,226 2,185 England 1,888 70,494 122,748 156,708 Wales Dyfed-Powys — 363 628 950 Gwent — 517 938 1,404 North Wales — 999 424 3,083 South Wales — 1,603 2,030 2,765 Wales — 3,482 4,020 8,202 England and Wales 1,888 73,976 126,768 164,910 1 Introduced 1 December 2003. 2 Revised figure provided for 2006. 3 Force unable to supply data for 2006 due to technical reasons. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.