The conviction of an LGV driver for four-and-a-half years for causing a fatal collision while talking on a hands-free kit could re-open calls for a blanket ban on mobile phone use in vehicles. Mervyn Richmond of Oakwood, Derby, had been talking to his mother for 23 minutes and failed to notice that traffic ahead of him on a Lincolnshire dual carriageway had stopped.
The collision, which occurred on 13 March 2007, killed one person and badly injured two others. The police said Richmond had
had 17 seconds in which to respond to the changed traffic conditions, as other traffic had done without incident, but at the time of impact he had not even touched the brakes.
Richmond, with a 24-year spotless driving record, was not speeding at the time of the accident, nor was he in breach of the mobile phone rules nonetheless he was found guilty of death by dangerous driving. A police spokesperson said that mobile calls can dominate cognitive function and leave even a sound professional driver like Richmond inattentive to his environment.
Brian Burns, communications manager for the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, says: "Firms must remember that while mobile communications are a great benefit to the industry, the safety imperative is on those who place and receive calls and firms who contact drivers on the road may find themselves liable in the event of a crash."
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