Cyclists and e-scooter riders should be banned from using mobile phones while on the road, a Conservative peer has urged. Baroness McIntosh of Pickering questioned why a recent “piecemeal” Highway Code amendment toughened up rules for motorists but not other road users.
A transport minister said careless and dangerous cycling can be prosecuted under separate road traffic laws, with fines of up to £2,500. E-scooters, where allowed in trial areas, are covered by rules banning mobile phone use, she said.
Opening the debate in the House of Lords on Wednesday, Baroness McIntosh said she had been using a pedestrian crossing near Parliament earlier in the day when a cyclist approached with “one hand bicycling and one hand on [his] mobile phone”. She said the individual was on the wrong side of the carriageway and “it was not clear whether he was going to stop”.
The life peer called on the Department of Transport to introduce parity in the Highway Code on mobile phone use. She said she accepted that the majority of cyclists are responsible but some are “reckless”. As for e-scooter riders, she said those who use them “irresponsibly” leave some people feeling “absolutely terrorised” on the UK’s streets.
Rule 149 of the Highway Code was amended on March 25 to extend the ban on using handheld mobile phones while driving. It is now an offence for drivers to handle devices for almost any purpose, not just to make and receive calls and texts.
Ministers hope the change will make it considerably easier for police officers to enforce the rule as they no longer have to prove what the driver was using their phone or tablet for. Anyone caught breaking the code could face a fine of up to £1,000 and six penalty points on their licence or full disqualification.
The rule does not apply to cyclists or e-bike riders, although transport minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton said careless and dangerous riding can still be prosecuted under road traffic laws. Fines of up to £1,000 for push bike riders and £2,500 for e-bike riders can be imposed, she said.
The use of e-scooters on public roads is illegal, except for in zones where they are undergoing an official government trial. Where this is the case, the Conservative minister said it is a punishable offence for riders to use mobile devices.
Baroness Vere said road safety is a “key priority” for the UK government and that the Highway Code is under constant review. She said: “I am always appalled when noble Lords stand up in your Lordships’ House and tell me about things that have happened to them on the road and I am always rather embarrassed that I have not been able to stop it. But I do not stop trying.”
