Older but not wiser! Age of oldest driver caught in Britain using mobile phone revealed

The age of the oldest British driver caught using a phone behind the wheel in the last three years has been revealed.

Almost 100,000 UK motorists have received six penalty points and minimum fines of £200 for illegally operating handheld devices while driving between January 2022 and the end of October 2024, DVLA records show.

‘CU80’ entries added to licenses for ‘failure to comply with vehicle control requirements, such as use of a mobile phone’ totaled 95,841 over the 34-month period, the government agency revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request .

Drivers in their 30s committed the highest percentage of violations, with 32,363 prosecutions for people aged 31 to 40, representing a third of approvals.

More surprising are the 84 motorists over the age of eighty who were also caught using a device while driving, and three permit holders over the age of ninety.

As part of efforts to curb the number of motorists using phones behind the wheel, penalties have been doubled from three points and £100 fines from 1 March 2017.

And from March 2022, the Government introduced stricter “zero tolerance” rules to almost completely ban touching a phone.

Authorities and police forces across the country are also using roadside Artificial Intelligence (AI) cameras to identify drivers who are illegally using phones and not wearing a seatbelt while driving.

The oldest driver of all to receive a CU80 endorsement between 2022 and October 2024 was 98 years old, Select Car Leasing’s FOI request to the DVLA revealed.

The agency cannot reveal the identity or location of the motorist.

While there is no upper age limit for driving in the UK, once drivers turn 70 they must apply to renew their license and renew it every three years thereafter.

And while they must declare any potential health problems that could affect their ability to drive, they do not need to take a driving test again to stay on the road.

Surprisingly, the data also showed 36 mobile phone license approvals for drivers aged 14, 15 and 16, even before they were old enough to attempt to pass the test.

News that motorists in their thirties are more likely to be caught using a device behind the wheel comes just days after British rapper Stormzy, 31, was handed a nine-month ban after a police officer undercover caught him using his phone at the wheel of his £225,000 Rolls Royce Wraith.

Drivers in their 20s accounted for a quarter of all approvals, while a fifth were awarded to drivers in their 40s.

A motorist caught committing such an offense will have his license enforced for four years from the date of its first issuance.

Mark Tongue, chief executive and co-founder of the leasing company, said: “Age is no barrier to receiving a fine and points on your license for being distracted by a mobile phone and all drivers, no matter how experienced, must Be aware of the dangers.

“It’s eye-opening to see such an elderly driver pulled over by police after taking his phone, but perhaps not surprising considering how technology has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, no matter how old we are.

“After all, age does not always equal wisdom.”

In March 2022, laws on mobile phone use while driving became much stricter when the Department of Transport declared a “zero tolerance” approach. It has become illegal to use a mobile phone while driving in virtually any circumstance, including illuminating the screen, checking notifications and even unlocking the device.

Touching a phone is only permitted when calling emergency services or to use tap and pay at toll booths and self-service restaurants.

Overall, there were 39,515 new and returning driver license approvals for CU80 processing in 2023, an increase of 16 percent from 34,062 approvals in 2022.

However, as of the end of October, there had only been 22,264 endorsements in 2024, indicating that prosecutions are declining despite the introduction of new AI-enabled camera equipment on the roads that can identify motorists driving by phone. .

England’s national highways and police forces have expanded an ongoing trial of the technology that began in 2021 and will now run until March.

The 10 police forces taking part in the rollout are Greater Manchester, Durham, Humberside, Staffordshire, West Mercia, Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, Norfolk, Thames Valley Police and Sussex.

The trial aims to help police forces understand how AI technology could work on national roads and shape any nationwide rollout.

The cameras can be mounted on a trailer or vehicle and are placed higher than traditional traffic or speed cameras.

In the future, AI cameras will be installed on highway gantries in the test regions.

The technology, developed by Acusensus, “provides automatic recognition of people using mobile phones while driving to enforce traffic safety laws aimed at preventing distracted driving.”

They capture images of passing vehicles (it can track objects moving up to 300 km/h), which are then run through AI to detect if someone is using their smartphone while driving or if someone in the car is not wearing a seat belt. security.

Two photos are taken: one at a shallow angle that captures whether a driver has a phone to their ear and checks whether they are wearing a seat belt, and a second deeper angle that can see if a person is texting in front. him.

A human then examines the AI ​​images to confirm that the software is correct and that a crime has indeed been committed.

If human control confirms that an infringement has been committed, the driver receives a penalty notice.

But if the image is incorrect and shows that no crime has been committed, Acusensus says it will be immediately removed from the archives.

DVLA data provided to Select Car Leasing also revealed the worst breach locations where drivers had CU80 endorsements added to a license from January 1, 2022 to October 27, 2024.

Drivers in London received the most support, ahead of drivers in Bradford and Leeds.