It only takes a second of distraction to kill on the roads - as the sentencing of Tomasz Kroker demonstrated so terribly yesterday. Tracy Houghton, her sons Ethan, 13, and Joshua, 11, and her stepdaughter Aimee Goldsmith, also 11, would be alive today if the use of mobile phones by drivers was considered as socially unacceptable as drink driving.

Instead, we see an epidemic of mobile phone use at the wheel. Over the past ten years, the Echo has photographed hundreds of drivers ignoring the law. We are routinely criticised for doing so. It's not our job to highlight madness on the roads, we are told. We think it is.

The threat of six points and a £200 fine hasn't stopped these drivers. The chance of being outed in their local paper hasn't stopped them. Even the heartbreaking pleas of Tracy's family - which you can see in the video above - haven't stopped them.

So today we make no apology for publishing yet another gallery of shame. And we're calling for a strict liability, automatic one-month ban for anyone caught using a mobile device at the wheel. The existing penalty isn't enough of a deterrent. It’s time for zero tolerance.

***************************

A Daily Echo photographer captured images of motorists using their phones at the wheel just hours after 30-year-old Tomasz Kroker was sentenced for ten years for causing the deaths of a mother and three children in a horror crash.

In just two hours he captured images of 14 people using hand held mobile phones to either talk or text, one of whom was driving a heavy goods vehicle.

One van driver was reading notes, another getting a card out of his wallet and one rolling a cigarette.

A woman was seen applying lipstick and only one in three people in a van appeared to be wearing a seatbelt.

Dramatic footage of Kroker's terrible accident, which took place on the A34 near Newbury, was shown across news channels on Monday as police nationwide warned drivers of the horrific consequences of using a mobile phone while driving.

They hope the tragic deaths of Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons Ethan, 13, and Joshua, 11, and partner's daughter Aimee Goldsmith, also 11, will stop drivers risking their own lives and those of other road users.

The government also plans to double penalties for mobile phone use at the wheel to six points and a £200 on-the-spot fine.

In Dorset, PC Jez Strothard of the No Excuse team said both marked and unmarked cars are used to identify drivers who use phones or similar devices while driving.

He added: "Using a mobile phone whilst driving is an extremely dangerous behaviour for motorists which puts drivers, passengers and other road users at risk of death or serious harm.

"Devices these days perform a variety of functions, they can be used for so many more things than simply making a telephone call. We have adapted to recent changes in behaviour by deploying plain clothes officers at the road side to identify drivers using their phones.

"I hope that the new proposed changes to the current penalties for the offence will make drivers think again before picking up their phones and putting both themselves and other road users at risk of potentially serious injury or worse.

"Whatever purpose a driver may be using a device for, it is still a distraction, and that is what we are trying to stop.

"Our No Excuse and traffic officers operate seven days a week to tackle the five biggest killers on our roads known as the fatal five. These are: drink and drug driving, excessive and inappropriate speed, not wearing a seatbelt, driver distractions such as using a hand-held mobile phone and dangerous/careless driving."

On Monday Reading Crown Court heard Kroker had been so distracted he barely looked at the road for a kilometre as he scrolled through music selections on his phone.

Kate Goldsmith, Aimee's mother, said Kroker had turned his lorry into a "lethal weapon" by using his phone while driving at 50mph, and she made a plea to all road users to learn the lessons from the case.

"We urge you to make a personal commitment to stop using mobile phones while driving and make our roads safer for everyone," she said.