THE mobile phone records of drivers involved in fatal accidents are being checked by police to see if they were talking or texting at the time.

Police said almost 1300 more motorists in New South Wales have been caught talking on their phone, without a handsfree kit, in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year.

In just six months the number of drivers caught on the phone totalled 19,584, with police now running operations throughout the city.

Mobile phones are now “the number one suspect” in crashes involving inattention, according to the policeman whose unit investigates the state’s worst collisions.

Senior Sergeant Peter Jenkins’ officers now order call records and text transcripts as a matter of “routine” after fatal and serious crashes.

The state’s top traffic cop, Chief Superintendent John Hartley, has seen for himself the devastating effects of using a phone while driving.

“I was following an 18-year-old lady on the Northern Beaches when the vehicle, for no reason, crossed to the wrong side of the road and collided head-on with a truck,” he said.

“She was killed instantly and we believe at the time she was using a mobile phone to text or talk to somebody.”

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