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You and Yours: Phone detector, Minimum pricing, Online shopping

12/04/2019

Phone detector, Minimum pricing, Online shopping

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Phone detector, Minimum pricing, Online shopping

Police are using a new device which can detect whether drivers are using a mobile phone. And it's almost a year since Scotland introduced minimum pricing for alcohol - did it work?

From today police in Thames Valley and Hampshire are using a new device which can detect when people are using a hand-held mobile while driving. It's a road sign that flashes an alert when it senses a hand-held mobile phone being used from inside a passing vehicle. It doesn't trigger a fine itself but experts say the data will give them an idea of where to put police in order to catch people breaking the law. Research from the RAC last month found the number of people who admitted using hand-held phones while driving has actually gone up to a quarter across all age groups, rising to almost 50% in those aged 25-34.

The march of online shopping has seemed relentless and has been reflected in the number of casualties on the High Street. with scores of big-name stores closing their doors. But new figures seem to show shopping for groceries online has declined in the last two years. Researchers Mintel found problems with orders and increasing delivery charges have led to consumer frustration among middle-aged and older shoppers in particular. 

And it's coming up to a year since minimum pricing for alcohol was introduced in Scotland to try and tackle problem drinking and improve public health. It meant that a unit of alcohol couldn't be sold for less than 50p. But has it worked? Sales of alcohol have continued to rise and there are calls for a further increase of 10p to boost the policy's effectiveness. We talk to an off-licence owner near Edinburgh about the changes he's seen in people's drinking habits since the new law was enacted last May.

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