PLANS to issue on-the-spot fines to motorway tailgaters, middle-lane hoggers and other careless drivers have been broadly welcomed.

From next month, police will be able to issue £100 fines and three points to offenders that would currently have to go to court.

The fines for using a mobile phone while driving and not wearing a seatbelt will also rise from £60 to £100.

More serious offences will still be dealt with through the courts but the hope is that police will be able to tackle inconsiderate and slightly aggressive motorists.

Cllr Michael Filer, Bournemouth’s cabinet member for transport, said: “I really welcome this. We’ve all seen people using their mobile phones or not wearing seatbelts. These are two practices that are just plain dangerous – to themselves, to passengers and to people in other cars.

“If it makes for safer roads, that’s what we are all after.” And Ian Belchamber, who runs the Dorset Speed website, said: “In principle, this sounds good to me, the obsession with speed has gone far too far, tailgating and lane hogging are far more dangerous than most of the speeding that goes on.”

But he voiced concerns about how the new measures would work in practice. “It’s not just what is done, it’s how it’s done and the public’s confidence has been dashed by police operations in the past few years.

“The police, in my view, first have an uphill struggle to regain trust before they talk about new operations.”

  • Dave Merritt, whose daughter Debbie died in a car collision in 2004, applauded the Government’s attempt to tackle careless drivers but questioned whether it would work.

Debbie was in a car being driven by her boyfriend Steven Dunford when he tried to overtake three vehicles on the A338 near Fordingbridge, lost control and smashed head-on into another car.

Dunford received a £1,000 fine and six-month driving ban after being acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving and convicted instead of careless driving.

Mr Merritt, of Verney Close in Bournemouth, said: “It’s about time something was done. Everybody on the road ought to have more courtesy, consideration and respect for other road users. I also feel that when somebody is killed and a driver is convicted of a serious motoring offence, they should receive a three to five year ban and be required to sit an advanced driving test before being let back on the road.”