A MOTHER whose 11-year-old daughter was killed on the A34 by a lorry driver distracted by his phone has backed Thames Valley Police using new technology to catch motorists on mobiles.

PICTURES: Did we catch you driving while on your phone?

The force and Hampshire’s Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit will be the first in the country to utilise the trailblazing tech, which flashes when a driver uses a phone without hands-free kit.

Oxford Mail:

From Monday a week of action will see officers crackdown on irresponsible drivers breaking the law, the device allowing police to identify hotspots.

An Oxford Mail photographer captured a dozen distracted drivers on Botley Road last month, many on their phones.

It comes after a major new road safety campaign across Oxfordshire was launched to combat shocking figures that show 90 per cent of crashes were due to a 'fatal four' factors.

Campaign launched to combat cause of 90 per cent of crashes

Not wearing a seatbelt, distraction (commonly caused by mobile phone use), speeding and drink and drugs have been linked to between 20 and 30 deaths on the county's roads every year for the past ten years.

In the Thames Valley, since 2014, there have been 83 people killed or seriously injured as a result of drivers using their mobile phones.

Oxford Mail:

The It's Not Worth It campaign is being supported by Kate Goldsmith, who tragically lost her daughter Aimee Goldsmith, aged 11, following a horrific crash on the A34 at East Ilsley on August 10, 2016.

Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker had been using his phone to change music while driving when he ploughed into stationary traffic crushing a number of cars and killing Aimee, her stepbrothers Josh Houghton, aged 11, Ethan Houghton, aged 13, and the brother's mum Tracey Houghton, aged 45.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in November 2016.

ALSO READ: A34 improvements needed as 'a matter of urgency' says MP

Ms Goldsmith said: “Most mothers’ look forward to planning their daughter’s weddings. I had to plan Aimee’s funeral.

“My son Jake was travelling in the car behind the one that Aimee was travelling in, thankfully he was uninjured, but he literally saw the moment that killed his sister.

“This was down to someone being distracted by their phone whilst driving a lethal weapon."

Oxford Mail:

She added Aimee's death was 'completely avoidable' and pleaded with drivers not take the risk while behind the wheel.

The new detection system has been developed by Norfolk company Westcotec and can detect when Bluetooth is being used but cannot differentiate if it is a passenger using the phone.

The detector will be located on the A34 in Oxfordshire but will also be posted at different locations throughout the Thames Valley and Hampshire in order to assist officers in catching drivers on their phones.

Oxford Mail:

PC Liz Johnson, a roads safety officer for the Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit, said research shows you are four times more likely to crash if using a mobile phone and that reaction times are around 50 per cent slower than a driver not using a phone.

She said: “It is also apparent that you are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal collision when texting compared with drink driving.

ALSO READ: Six terrible crashes caused by the 'fatal four'

“My advice would be to turn off your phone whilst driving, put it out of reach, out of view so that more innocent people don’t lose their lives..”

People caught using a mobile phone while driving can get an automatic fixed penalty notice.

Since March, 2017 this means six penalty points on your licence and a fine of £200.

The case could also go to court and you could be disqualified from driving and a maximum fine of £1,000. Drivers of buses or goods vehicles could get a maximum fine of £2,500.