Fines for motorists caught using their mobile phones are set to double to €100 as the present penalties do not appear to act as enough of a deterrent.
A total of 2,000 motorists are being fined every month for using their phones while driving, official figures show.
“We have just met with government officials, and have been ensured the fines will finally be increasing very soon. It is about time too. This is a very dangerous habit that motorists are developing,” traffic consultant Pierre Vella told The Sunday Times of Malta.
A campaign to enforce stricter fines was set to begin in the coming weeks after transport authorities agreed it was time to crack down on mobile phone use.
Back in 2010, Parliament had discussed increasing the penalties for mobile phone use from €50 to €100. A legal notice setting the steeper penalties was issued the following year, yet it was not being enacted, Mr Vella said. “What is happening is that the fines are mostly still being issued at between €25 and €50. This is happening almost across the board,” said Mr Vella, who is also a member of the National Roads Safety Council.
By way of comparison, driving while using a mobile phone in the UK can cost a driver up to £1,000 (€1,150), and a conviction can cost a driver three penalty points, where 12 points can lead to a driving ban.
Government transport figures, seen by this newspaper, show that around 2,000 motorists are pulled over every month for calling or texting from behind the wheel.
Some 15,000 fines have been issued by wardens and traffic police to motorists caught on their phones since 2014. A review of previous years’ convictions shows a steady growth of around 15 per cent in the number of drivers fined for mobile phone use every year.
Mario Tonna, the head of the police’s traffic division told The Sunday Times of Malta, that mobile phone use was one of the main offences encountered by traffic officers.
“This problem has increased, especially when it comes to youngsters. In view of this, daily spot checks and police patrols are being implemented to try to reduce it,” he said, adding that educational campaigns had also been launched.
Mr Vella said the use of mobile phones had become so common that an even worse habit was taking hold: text driving.
“This is ridiculous, yet we are seeing a trend of this that is worrying,” he said.
Earlier this year Mr Vella had unveiled a study which showed that motorists were taking around five seconds longer to set off from green traffic lights, as they flicked through their social media on mobile devices.
“It’s not just mobile phones. The other day we had someone driving with his iPad pressed against the steering wheel,” Mr Vella said.
A recent survey by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory showed that a driver’s reaction time slowed by 46 per cent when making a call on a hand-held mobile, by 37 per cent when texting while driving and by 27 per cent during hands-free calls.
In comparison, reaction times of those who had used cannabis slowed by 21 per cent and, for those on the drink-drive limit, 13 per cent.