February 27th 2007 is “ D “ day for u.k. car drivers who use mobile phones whilst driving. From this date the penalty for using a mobile phone whilst driving is £60 fixed penalty and 3 points on your driving licence.Previously the peanlty was just the £60 fine. Will this be enough to discourage the thousands of motorists who can still be regulary seen with one hand on the wheel while the other presses the phone to their ear? It should be as after 4 offences they will be pedestrians !

Don’t think that you are safe with hand free either as if it can be proved that you were not in control of the vehicle while talking on the phone the offence still applies. Presumably this would only be invoked if you had an accident or were seen driving erratically by a policeman , phone records and indeed your own phone memory would be used to prove the offence.The sensible thing to do if you are called while driving is to pull over ( remember to switch the engine off ) and ring them back, your phone should log the calling number.

If you are the type of driver who needs to call people while driving ( businessmen etc ) make a stop, get a cup of coffee and make your calls, the break will do you good as well. Expect the police to be high profile on this offence after the 27th as they will want to glean maximum publicity from the media and create a “shock wave“ to ensure it becomes an effective deterrent.

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