A crackdown on drivers using their mobile phones behind the wheel has been launched in a regionwide operation to increase road safety. Charlotte Bowe joined police officers for the first day

FOR hundreds of North-East drivers, resisting the urge to answer a phone call or scroll through a text message behind the wheel can be too much.

It’s just a quick glance to see who’s calling and only a couple of seconds to answer and say, ‘I’m driving, I’ll call you back’.

However, that one distracted moment is enough to lose control, cause a crash and even claim lives.

Officers from Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit (CDSOU) are often the first of the emergency services to arrive at the scene of fatal accidents on our region’s roads.

These are the officers who are tasked with knocking on the front door of an anxious family to tell them a loved one has died in a car crash.

For one police officer, who has spent seven years as a traffic specialist, he has dealt with the carnage and heartbreak caused by distracted drivers using their phones while on the road.

Durham Police’s Road Policing Unit (RPU)’s Sergeant Mark Sheppard was one of several members of CDSOU dedicating their entire shift yesterday to scouring the streets for motorists with mobiles.

Armed with an unmarked police vehicle in Darlington, Sgt Sheppard cautioned seven drivers for the offence as part of the unit’s first day of action to deter those behind the wheel from picking up their phones.

Sgt Sheppard: “The reason I’m out here today is purely for mobile phones because our fatal statistics and accidents are through the roof.

“One of the contributing factors with our fatals is mobile phone use. Not all of them and it’s in the most extreme cases I’m talking about.

“However, more people on their phones are in accidents.”

He added: “You’re on the phone, you’re not concentrating on your driving and we end up picking up the pieces when it all goes horribly wrong when someone ends up getting killed.

“I know that’s the most extreme circumstances, but it does happen and if you kill someone while you’re on the phone, it’s prison time.”

Two men from Darlington were pulled over by Sgt Sheppard within 15 minutes of each other after one was seen making a phone call and the other was caught texting.

Both of the men, who caught the traffic officer’s attention on Darlington’s North Road, were warned they now face three penalty points being added to their licence, as well as a £100 fine.

The pair may also receive court summons in connection with the offences where they could be disqualified from driving and face a maximum fine of £1,000.

However, CDSOU will soon be imposing tougher punishments on those cautioned with driving while using a mobile phone as the current penalties are set to double in spring.

As of March 1 2017, distracted drivers will incur six penalty points and a £200 fine for the offence.

The move is set to hit new drivers hardest as six penalty points would see their licence revoked during their probationary period on the road.

Sgt Sheppard added: “A lot of the time, people are angry and ask ‘do you work on commission for these offences’, but we do pick up the pieces when it goes wrong.

“It is the most extreme cases when that happens, but it is happening.

“People think ‘it’s not going to happen to me’, but the bottom line of it is is that if you lose control of that vehicle, you’re going to prison.”

CDSOU announced their regional crackdown would run alongside national activity, coordinated by the National Police Chiefs Council.

With the operation under way, Durham and Cleveland’s forces are determined to discourage drivers from doing anything other than driving.