ALMOST 30,000 Queensland drivers have been caught talking or texting on mobile phones over a 12-month period, latest figures show.
The 28,489 nabbed is four times the number of people caught when the laws were introduced in 1999.
More than 6250 drivers have been fined more than once for using their mobile.
The latest official figures, compiled for The Sunday Mail, are for offences to the end of 2008.
State Transport Minister Rachel Nolan is considering pushing for even tougher sanctions. Ms Nolan said driving while using a mobile phone was clearly dangerous and that was the reason the Government increased the fine from $225 to $300 and three demerit points in January this year.
But motorists clearly are not deterred and police say they are booking 20 people an hour for mobile offences. "Police have stepped up their enforcement," Ms Nolan said.
"The results of that effort are being seen with more people being caught but I am not averse to making further tough decisions in the future."
Under Queensland traffic laws it is illegal to hold a phone while driving or if the car is stationary in traffic.
Psychologists at the University of Utah found motorists who held and talked on their phones were as dangerous as those driving with a .08 per cent blood alcohol level. And a 2008 British transport study found text messaging while driving impaired motorists more than drink or drugs.
Superintendent Col Campbell of Queensland police State Traffic Support Branch said motorists had ignored pleas to put down their phones, despite the increased risk of having a crash.
Queensland police scrutinise mobile telephone records of motorists involved in serious and fatal crashes.
RACQ spokesman Gary Fites said the organisation would keep an open mind on whether increased penalties or police enforcement would be needed to curb the problem.
"I suspect one of the reasons (for) the increase in numbers of people being caught is because there are more police resources but if motorists think they can get away with it they will," he said. "The bottom line is that people need to realise that using a phone hands-free or hand-held is a distraction. We have the fatal four and distraction should be the fifth."
QUT psychologist Shari Walsh, who did research on 800 drivers in 2006, said their main reason for using mobiles in the car was convenience.
"The surprising thing was a lot of people were aware of the increased risk of an accident but that didn't stop them using their phone," she said.
University of Queensland's Dr Mark Horswill said overseas studies had found there appeared to be no advantage in hands-free phones over hand-held phones in terms of risk.
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