Hundreds of drivers have been caught using a mobile phone behind the wheel across the north and north-east – with motorists in the Highlands the worst offenders in Scotland.
Since last April, 264 drivers across the Highlands and Islands were caught by police using their mobile phones while driving.
The north-east was ranked as the sixth worst region in the country, with 109 drivers falling foul of the law.
Superintendent Louise Blakelock, of the force’s road policing unit, last night stressed the dangers of flouting the rules and implored drivers never to take the risk of checking their phone while on the road.
She said: “The dangers of driving while distracted, including using a mobile phone, are significant and are proven to be one of the contributory factors in fatal and serious collisions.
“We all have a role to play in keeping our roads safe and motorists must be aware of the dangers they place themselves, and others, in when driving distracted.
“It only takes a split second for something to happen, and it can happen to anyone.
“The question we have to ask is, ‘is it worth the risk?’
“Adjusting sat-navs, stereos or any in-car technology distracts you from your driving and the reality is that split second distraction could have life-changing consequences.”
Police also added that driving while impaired or distracted was a factor in 38 road deaths in 2018.
The Highlands and Islands has a major problem with drivers using handheld devices whilst driving, coming out in top place in five out of the last six years – and second in the year the region did not take top spot.
However, the total number of drivers caught using a mobile phone in the north has decreased by 95% over the past five years.
Over the 2014/15 period, 5,837 drivers were found in the Highlands and Islands to be using a mobile phone behind the wheel – a far cry from the 264 detected between April and December.
And there has been a similar decline in the north-east.
In 2014/15, a total of 2,557 drivers were stopped for using their phone while driving.
That number fell dramatically to 628 just one year later, and there were just 170 people caught in 2017/18.
Chief Inspector, Simon Bradshaw, added that the force is committed to conducting regular campaigns to ensure the practice becomes “more socially unacceptable”.
Joshua Harris of Brake, the road safety charity, has called for the deployment of greater resources to ensure there is “an effective deterrent to the menace of mobile phone use behind the wheel”.
He said: “The continuing prevalence of mobile phone offences across Scotland is cause for concern and highlights that there is still much work to be done regarding communicating the dangers.
“All phone use behind the wheel is dangerous, and we need the law to reflect this by banning the use of hands-free devices.”
Highlands and Islands MSP David Stewart, who is a long-time campaigner for road safety, said: “It is true that many of the hundreds of thousands of drivers using our roads are conscientious and know the dangers of driving dangerously.
“But it is also true that too many people are still driving with a mobile phone in their hands risking death and carnage for a meaningless one-second glance at the handset.”