Mobile phones and driving

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FOI/26/10461

Version Date: 04/09/2026

The Road Safety Team has provided the following information: 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request information relating to offences involving the use of a hand-held mobile phone or device while driving.

Please provide the following information separately for:

2023
2024
2025
1 January to 31 July 2026, or the latest complete full month of data available if July 2026 data is not yet finalised

Mobile phone driving offences

Please provide the number of offences recorded for “Use a handheld mobile phone/device while driving a motor vehicle on a road - endorsable offence” (RV86019, or the equivalent offence code used by your force).

For the offence ‘Use a handheld mobile phone/device while driving a motor vehicle on a road – endorsable offence’

2023 – 942

2024 – 548

2025 – 431

2026 – 216

Method of detection

If the method or source by which the offences in Question 1 were detected is centrally recorded, please provide a breakdown using the categories held by your force.

Where identifiable within those existing categories, please separately identify offences detected through:

a. directly by police officers, including officer stops or direct observation b. footage or evidence submitted by members of the public, including Operation Snap or an equivalent scheme c. cameras or other automated enforcement technology d. any other recorded method.

If the information is held using different categories, please provide the breakdown in the format in which it is centrally held.

Roads or locations with the highest number of offences

If the road or location of the offences in Question 1 is centrally recorded and the highest locations can be identified without a manual review of individual offence records, please provide the five roads or locations with the highest number of offences across the full period 1 January 2023 to 31 July 2026, or the latest complete full month of data available if July 2026 data is not yet finalised, together with the total number of offences recorded at each.

Please disregard this question if identifying the highest locations would require a manual review of individual offence records.

I am seeking information available from centrally searchable records and am not asking for a manual review of individual offence or case records.

To answer this question would involve individually reviewing each offence.