Don’t even touch your mobile in car

Drivers risk £200 fine in strict safety crackdown

DRIVERS face a total ban on touching mobile phones at the wheel.

Under existing law they can be prosecuted only if they use hand-held devices to call or text.

But from early next year this will extend to touching phones for any reason – such as to browse the internet or scroll through a music playlist.

Motorists will still be able to use their devices as a satnav, but only if hands-free.

Mobile payments at drivethrough restaurants will also be allowed. Hands-free video calls and streaming videos are already banned.

Offenders will be hit with six points and a £200 fine. The RAC’s Nicholas Lyes said: ‘The closing of this loophole is very welcome and reflects the multitude of ways drivers can use hand-held phones.

‘Use of hand-held mobile phones at the wheel continues to represent a very real road safety risk, so it’s clear more needs to be done to make this as socially unacceptable as drink-driving.

‘It’s important that alongside this change to the law, the Government l ooks at other options that can help enforce the law, which should include new camera technology that can detect different types of hand-held mobile phone use at the wheel.’

The Mail’s End The Mobile Madness campaign has called for tougher penalties for drivers who recklessly put the lives of others at risk.

The use of high- definition cameras that can take pictures of motorists through their windscreens has been trialled in England.

If these are a success, images could be sent to police to issue notice of prosecution letters.

High- s eated HGV cabs driven by police have also helped to catch 250 offenders a month.

Plans for a blanket ban on using mobiles while driving were mooted last November.

Following an 11- month consultation, the Department for Transport has agreed drivers should face prosecution for touching their phone for any reason. The ministry has vowed to bring in the change from early next year.

Five people die on the roads and 68 are seriously injured every day and incidents are increasingly a result of drivers being distracted by mobiles.

Legislation was introduced in 2017 after our campaign highlighted a spate of deaths caused by motorists calling or texting while driving.

Although the new rules helped deter offenders, drivers have escaped punishment because the law targeted only those using phones for ‘interactive communication’.

Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, of the National Police Chiefs Council, said: ‘Using a mobile while driving is incredibly dangerous.’

The Scottish Government has said: ‘Laws regarding the use of mobile phones while driving are reserved to the UK Government.’