RSA calls for check on crash drivers’ phones

Gardaí should be given powers to check the mobile phone records of motorists involved in fatal accidents to see if they were on the phone at the time of the crash.

The Road Safety Authority has warned road deaths will soar to more than 250 a year from last year’s record low of 186 unless there is a major “reinvigoration” of the penalty points scheme.

An Oireachtas Transport Committee was told yesterday that the problem of drivers using mobiles was “endemic” and had surged in recent years.