D RIVERS who hog the middle lane or tailgate other cars face on-the-spot fines of £100 and three points on their licence. Police are also to get powers to issue instant fixed-penalty notices for not giving way at a junction or using the wrong lane at a roundabout.
Details of the crackdown on anti-social motoring have been announced by Transport Minister Stephen Hammond. His crackdown on Claras (members of the Centre Lane Residents' Association) and other pet hates was announced on Wednesday.
"We've all suffered from it at one point or another: middle-lane hogs clogging up the motorway or irresponsible motorists driving right up to our rear bumper," he said.
"Whilst we may curse in our car at this thoughtless behaviour, very few of us ever see action taken against them. Careless drivers are not only a menace, their negligence puts innocent people's lives at risk.
"For those of you nodding in rueful agreement, today brings good news. From July, careless drivers who put other road users at risk face on-the-spot penalties.
"And it is not only good news for the driver, but also for the police. It will be easier for the police to tackle problem drivers by allowing them to immediately issue a fixed penalty notice rather than needing to take every offender to court.
"Also in the measures we are setting out is an increase in fines for other offences. The punishment for using a mobile phone while driving, for example, will rise from £60 to £100, a timely change given that smart phones have led to an increase in texting and e-mailing while driving. This is now a serious danger to road safety. "
The penalty for driving uninsured will also go up – by 50 per cent, from £200 to £300.
Mr Hammond added: "The new levels will offer greater encouragement for motorists to take remedial training as an alternative to the fixed penalty notice, while part of the revenue raised will go to the victims-of-crime service. They are also overdue, with penalties for most offences having stayed the same since 2000."
AA president Edmund King welcomed the announcement, saying: "An increase in the standard motoring fixed-penalty fine will help deter those who commit motoring offences including mobile phone use.
"We are also pleased to see that, at long last, new powers and fines will be given to the police to tackle the top three pet hates of drivers – tailgaters, mobile phone abusers and middle-lane hogs."
But Institute of Advanced Motorists director of policy Neil Greig said: "This is a major change in traffic law enforcement and the IAM is concerned that issuing fixed-penalty tickets for careless driving downplays the seriousness of the offence.
"Careless covers a wide range of poor to reckless driving behaviour that often merits further investigation.
"This could free up traffic police time and allow them to maintain a higher profile. But without traffic cops out on the road to enforce this new approach, it will have little impact on road safety."
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Anti-social behaviour is as big a problem on the roads as it is in wider society.
"Giving police more discretion to act, and freeing up resources to allow them to do so by cutting procedural delays in court, is good news.
"We are also pleased to see that the stick is accompanied by the chance of re-education for moderate offenders.
"Raising the fine level to £100 is justifiable to tackle the plague of hand-held mobile phone use which slows drivers' reaction times even more than being at the drink-drive limit or taking cannabis."