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A record number of people have been fined or cautioned this year for operating a mobile phone while driving.
According to statistics released in reply to a Freedom of Information request, 395 drivers were punished for committing the offence so far in 2016 - more than one a day.
Two offences this year were deemed serious enough to warrant a fine of £150 and a brief stay in jail – one for three days and another for one week.
The overall number of offences has climbed from 371 last year and 375 in 2014, when holding a mobile phone while driving was first made an offence.
Another 48 drivers this year were taken to task for the offence with a simple warning from Police.
Acting Police Inspector Paul Smith told Express that the continued use of mobile phones while driving is of concern.
“The public are aware of the dangers of driving whilst using mobile phones, every day we see something on social media about it, the concern is that they continue to take the risk,” he said.
Global campaigns have shown that driving while on your mobile can be lethal.
“It's being recognised internationally that using mobile devices whilst driving is the cause of significant danger on our roads,” said Insp Smith. “It has become the norm for people to be contactable 24 hours a day, whatever they are doing, which clearly holds consequences for road traffic incidents.”
The FOI inquiry also asked how many of the motorists who were stopped avoided fines altogether.
Of the 1,141 incidents recorded between January 2014 and 1 November 2016, and dealt with in the Magistrate’s Court or a parish hall, 95 were dismissed without fine – roughly 8 percent of offences that proceeded to that stage.
However, another 178 motorists were dismissed with only roadside advice from Jersey States Police over that same period.
“Mobile phones are a huge distraction and our roads are particularly busy,” warned Insp Smith. “Clearly you need to have your wits about you when driving a vehicle, any form of distraction inevitably increases the likelihood of a collision and with it serious injury or death.”
Fines doled out for the offence ranged from £25 to £300.
