New drivers could lose licence if caught using mobile phones

The laws regarding driving while using a mobile, driving while intoxicated or under the influence of banned substances need to be far more draconian if they are to have any real impact on reducing the carnage on our roads.

If your phone is in a cradle then you may press a single button to answer a call, but pressing multiple buttons – like a text – is illegal.

These new penalties will apply even if you’re only seen using a phone while driving. Increasing the fine from £100 to £200 and doubling the penalty points from three to six will help to deter people from doing it in the first place.

“Using your mobile phone while driving needs to be considered to be as socially unacceptable as drink/drug-driving, because the consequences can be fatal”.

“Improving the safety of our roads is a year-round commitment for our officers”.

Drivers caught using their mobile phones while driving will face six points, a £200 fine and have no option of an awareness course as of today (1 March 2017).

Nick Lloyd, road safety manager for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said: “Taking your theory and practical driving tests can be an expensive and stressful time, so imagine having to go through it all again for one moment of stupidity”.

This new law comes online alongside an ad campaign telling drivers to put the phone down.

Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker was jailed for 10 years in October after killing a woman and three children by ploughing into their stationary vehicle on the A34 near Newbury, Berkshire, while distracted by his phone.

AA president Edmund King said: “We must stop this epidemic of texting/tweeting drivers by changing attitudes, and the campaign that kicks off this week is a big step in the right direction”.

Can I legally use my phone at the wheel?

“Everyone has a part to play in encouraging their family and friends not to use their phones while driving – it is as inexcusable as drink driving”.

A lorry driver texting at a roundabout in Bournemouth was among 31 motorists stopped on Wednesday by Dorset Police.

Will tougher penalties change driver behaviour?

I’ve had a couple of experiences that I can recall where I’ve almost been in an accident due to texting and driving.

He had been distracted by scrolling through music on his mobile phone and was jailed for ten years. I just have too much respect for my own life and other’s lives on the road to even consider my smartphone a priority.