A ROAD safety campaigner from Radcliffe is calling for tougher penalties for motorists convicted of using mobile phones in their vehicles.

Allan Ramsay wants offenders to be given an automatic driving ban for such offences.

Last year Mr Ramsay and a fellow cyclist from London submitted an online petition urging for tougher penalties for drivers caught using mobile phones. It generated 3,654 signatures in favour.

But he has now been told by the Government there are no plans to change existing penalties.

The 61-year-old is an active road safety lobbier and a member of RoadPeace, a national charity for road crash victims.

In 1991, while out cycling, he was struck on the head by a metal bar protruding from a wagon and was on a life support machine before recovering. And in 2008, he was knocked off his bike by a motorist using a mobile phone, but escaped injury.

Mr Ramsay said: “We had called for drivers caught using hand-held mobiles to be banned from driving. As far as I’m concerned, this offence is on a par with drink driving and the penalties should be the same or as close as they can get.”

Mr Ramsay, of Radcliffe Moor Road, claimed that figures show that the reaction time of someone texting is 35 per cent slower than normal whereas the figure for drink drivers is 12 per cent.

“On that basis, texting drivers are as every bit as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than drink drivers and, therefore, the penalties should be made one and the same.”

However, in a letter from the Department of Transport, it stated: “There are no plans to change the penalty of the offence in the way that you suggest. It is already on a par with speeding offences and the Department believes that this is the appropriate level, though we will consider that as part of finalising the forthcoming road safety strategy.”.

Commenting on the reply, Mr Ramsay said: “It makes painful reading. They have no right to say that this is on a par with a speeding offence. It’s not a logical argument.”