Post by Salem6 on Dec 1, 2003 7:36:34 GMT
A ban on using mobile phones while driving comes into force on Monday.
The minimum fine for breaking the law is £30, but police are expected to be lenient with offenders - at least for the first two months.
Drivers could be given a £30 on-the-spot fine
Hands-free kits are allowed, but many road safety experts say they do not reduce the risks of having an accident.
Despite the changes a survey of drivers found 94% were unaware of the changes - even though a quarter admitted phoning or texting while behind the wheel.
Verbal warnings
Police forces can issue on-the-spot fines from Monday, but the Association of Chief Police Officers has recommended that officers in England and Wales give drivers a period of grace to get used to the new laws.
WHAT ARE THE NEW RULES?
Apply from 1 December
New offence of "using a hand-held phone while driving"
£30 fixed penalty fine
Rising to up to £1,000 if the matter goes to court
Rising to up to £2,500 for drivers of vans, buses, coaches and lorries
Drivers in Scotland, however, have been given no such concession.
Offending motorists south of the border can expect verbal warnings until February in order to "assist in the education of drivers".
But police will still be able to hand out instant fines if they feel a driver's use of a mobile phone poses a serious risk, or if their use contributes to a collision.
And road safety minister David Jamieson said that while the new ban applies only to hand-held mobile phones "police can use other powers to prosecute a driver if they are distracted by a call on a hands-free phone".
Hands-free kits
Road safety charity Brake fears some phone companies will exploit the ban to promote their hands-free models.
Calling for a ban on the use of all phones by drivers, its chief executive, Mary Williams said: "The use of hands-free kits while driving may not be illegal yet, but they certainly do not make driving any safer."
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "At least 20 people have died on Britain's roads in crashes where mobile phones have been implicated."
The AA Motoring Trust said drivers using mobiles were four times more likely to have an accident even if they were employing hands-free devices.
Text messages
A survey of 1,000 motorists by Tesco suggested more than nine out of 10 drivers were unaware of the changes.
A separate study by Sainsbury's said that almost nine million people used a hand-held mobile phone while driving during the last year.
Of those 709,000 said that using their phone has nearly caused them to have an accident.
A spokesman for the bank said: "Our research reveals that 10% of motorists key in text messages while driving, 15% read messages and 16% answer calls."
Video:-
The BBC's Tom Symonds
"Anyone caught may get a bit of leniency, for now"
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39546000/rm/_39546954_mobile06_symonds_vi.ram
The minimum fine for breaking the law is £30, but police are expected to be lenient with offenders - at least for the first two months.
Drivers could be given a £30 on-the-spot fine
Hands-free kits are allowed, but many road safety experts say they do not reduce the risks of having an accident.
Despite the changes a survey of drivers found 94% were unaware of the changes - even though a quarter admitted phoning or texting while behind the wheel.
Verbal warnings
Police forces can issue on-the-spot fines from Monday, but the Association of Chief Police Officers has recommended that officers in England and Wales give drivers a period of grace to get used to the new laws.
WHAT ARE THE NEW RULES?
Apply from 1 December
New offence of "using a hand-held phone while driving"
£30 fixed penalty fine
Rising to up to £1,000 if the matter goes to court
Rising to up to £2,500 for drivers of vans, buses, coaches and lorries
Drivers in Scotland, however, have been given no such concession.
Offending motorists south of the border can expect verbal warnings until February in order to "assist in the education of drivers".
But police will still be able to hand out instant fines if they feel a driver's use of a mobile phone poses a serious risk, or if their use contributes to a collision.
And road safety minister David Jamieson said that while the new ban applies only to hand-held mobile phones "police can use other powers to prosecute a driver if they are distracted by a call on a hands-free phone".
Hands-free kits
Road safety charity Brake fears some phone companies will exploit the ban to promote their hands-free models.
Calling for a ban on the use of all phones by drivers, its chief executive, Mary Williams said: "The use of hands-free kits while driving may not be illegal yet, but they certainly do not make driving any safer."
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "At least 20 people have died on Britain's roads in crashes where mobile phones have been implicated."
The AA Motoring Trust said drivers using mobiles were four times more likely to have an accident even if they were employing hands-free devices.
Text messages
A survey of 1,000 motorists by Tesco suggested more than nine out of 10 drivers were unaware of the changes.
A separate study by Sainsbury's said that almost nine million people used a hand-held mobile phone while driving during the last year.
Of those 709,000 said that using their phone has nearly caused them to have an accident.
A spokesman for the bank said: "Our research reveals that 10% of motorists key in text messages while driving, 15% read messages and 16% answer calls."
Video:-
The BBC's Tom Symonds
"Anyone caught may get a bit of leniency, for now"
news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39546000/rm/_39546954_mobile06_symonds_vi.ram