ONE is still too many.

That’s the reaction from one road safety expert after the Daily Echo reported that more than 1,000 drivers had been caught in just one month as part of the No Excuse campaign.

The campaign, led by Dorset Road Safe, caught 1,073 drivers flouting the law during April on Dorset’s roads.

That included offences like driving while using a mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt and speeding.

Alison Shelton is manager at the LV= Streetwise centre in Bournemouth, which educates children about road safety as well as hazards elsewhere.

She said: “I think that one is too many and the fact of the matter is there’s so many preventable bad things that can happen with just a loss of concentration and anything that makes people think twice is a good thing.

“Most people think it won’t happen to them. It really shouldn’t matter if there’s someone out there with a camera or in a police car, it’s down to everybody individually to do the right thing.”

The LV= centre is also a venue for driver awareness courses, which are on offer to some driver caught speeding, in lieu of penalty points.

Online at bournemouthecho.co.uk, readers gave their verdict on the statistic.

High Visibility said: “You only have to spend an hour on the road to see a couple of people using mobiles.”

Hammer, from Poole, added: “I saw three people on their mobiles this morning on my way to work.”

Delphin, Bournemouth, said: “I usually find it’s the mums in the morning driving and returning from dropping the kids off who are the worst mobile phone offenders.

“We need more unmarked traffic police to catch these and a more severe punishment.”