Stiffer penalties for using a mobile device whilst driving

[#1]

Finally it seems the government has seen sense! I for one am all for these changes. If you need to use a mobile whilst driving use a hands-free kit.

Drivers caught using their mobile phone behind the wheel now face tougher penalties.

From 1 March 2017 both the fine and penalty points will double - from £100 to £200 and from 3 to 6 points.

The option of taking an awareness course and not receiving points on the driving license will no longer be offered.

Anyone who gets caught twice using a mobile device while driving will, with the new tariff of six penalty points, find that their license will be revoked. Newer drivers, if they get caught within two years of passing their test, will have their license taken for a first offence and will have to retake their driving test.

Source: Stiffer penalties for using mobile devices while driving

[#2]

Will it be enforced though?
I still see at least one driver on the phone every time I go out. And I am usually only travelling locally. Even when walking the dog, I see people on the phone, whether to their ear or in their hand, passing me in the HOUSING ESTATE, where there are kids running about at all times.

[#3]

Definitely one of the most abused traffic laws.

Personally I have only seen one instance of a driver being stopped while on the phone.

He was tailgating me while chatting on his hand held phone and I was watching him in my mirror when I saw the Police car behind him.

It was a good moment watching him being pulled over.

My kids have hands-free in their cars....I don't and simply don't answer it while driving.

[#4]

I can't vouch for all Police Authorities but here in the Thames Valley region the Police have already started crack down campaigns. In our local paper this week it was announced that the Police launched a sting operation on the M1 at the junction with Milton Keynes and in the 3 day period they stopped 103 motorists.

A total of 83 drivers were stopped for using a mobile phone whilst driving, with a further eight drivers found to not be in proper control of their vehicles. Of these, 38 were driving large goods vehicles, both UK-and foreign-registered.

Three drivers already had six points on their licence, meaning they will be summonsed to court for the offence, and face a possible ban if found guilty. Furthermore five vehicles were seized for having no insurance, one driver reported for driving whilst disqualified and another driver was arrested after being identified as wanted in another force

Read more at: http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/police-stop-83-drivers-using-mobile-phones-on-the-m1-near-milton-...

I think we've all seen people on mobile phones the same as we often see motorists with defective lights and so on and just because we see them it doesn't mean the Police are doing nothing about it. Besides as we know there are more of us than there are Police so it's mainly luck whether they do get caught but at least these new laws are a step in the right direction. 

[#5]

and here are a couple more

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/15152189.92_drivers_caught_using_their_phones_in_space_of_a_we...

POLICE caught 92 drivers using their phone at the wheel during a week-long crackdown in Dorset.

Some face driving bans and others could lose their jobs following the enhanced campaign, which ran from March 1-7.

http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/latest-news/news.aspx?id=5489

More than 250 drivers in the West Midlands were hit with new heavier fines for using mobile phones behind the wheel during a week-long clampdown.

Offenders included 30 truckers, a driving instructor, and a man accessing mobile banking while travelling on the M5 with a phone in one hand and a bank statement in the other.

All of the 261 distracted drivers caught during the 1-8 March campaign have been handed £200 fines and six points on their licence.

[#6]

@Oldjim

Thanks for that.., it looks like it might be part of a nationwide campaign at the moment. Lets hope it's not just for show and they make it a regular thing.

It looks like the West Midlands are the worst offenders so far, I wonder why? 

[#7]

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@MKSlinky wrote:

It looks like the West Midlands are the worst offenders so far, I wonder why? 

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Probably because they don't want to lose their place in the Plusnet support queue.

[#8]

@Anonymous

Ooh you're so cheeky! LOL..!