Blitz on drivers using mobile phones is backed in House of Commons
A crackdown on drivers using mobile phones launched after a 20-year-old woman was killed has been backed in the House of Commons.
Drivers using their mobile phones is predicted to become the biggest cause of deaths on the road by 2015.
It was in July last year that 20-year-old Laura Thomas, of Great Haywood, and boyfriend Lewis Pagett, 19, were struck by their own vehicle after an HGV crashed into it, sending it flying over the safety barrier to where the pair stood waiting for help after breaking down.
Miss Thomas was killed and Mr Pagett was seriously injured. The couple had broken down on the A5 between Telford and Shrewsbury on their way to Wales.
Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy visited her mother Lisa to hear more of their campaign to raise awareness of dangers of using a phone while driving and agreed to raise it in Parliament.
Mr Lefroy asked William Hague, Leader of the House of Commons, for a debate on support for those, such as Mrs Thomas, who want to raise awareness of the dangers of using mobile devices while driving as well as on the sentences available for such crimes, which often seem too short.
Mr Hague replied: "That is a heartbreaking case, and of course it happens all too often in other parts of the country as well. It is important that people understand the great dangers of using mobile phones while driving, and the kind of publicity that my hon. Friend is creating helps raise awareness. On the question of penalties, I will draw what he has said to the attention of hon. Friends in the Ministry of Justice."
Mr Lefroy welcomed Mr Hague's comments. "Lisa's work is of great importance and I will support it in whatever way I can. First and foremost, it will save people from death and serious injury. But it will also mean that drivers, who are otherwise law-abiding citizens, think again about using mobiles while driving because they face the prospect of a jail sentence."
