GSM WORLD

Drivers face new phone penalties

Motorists who are caught using a hand-held mobile phone while driving
will have three penalty points added to their licence, the government
says.

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said the maximum fine would also
double to Ł60 from 27 February.

He added that it was impossible to do two things at once and that
using a mobile while driving was dangerous.

But the Liberal Democrats say only about one in 100 offenders are
being caught by police.

Concentration

Mr Alexander said: Research shows that talking on a mobile phone
while driving affects your concentration and ability to react to
dangerous situations.

Its quite simple - its impossible to do two things at once and do
them well.

That is why in December 2003 we introduced new laws preventing
motorists from driving while using a hand-held mobile.

We have seen a groundswell of support for this move.

But, worryingly, while 92% of people agree with the law, 21% of
drivers admit to breaking it.

Shadow Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: This is a perfectly
sensible change and we support it.

But the trouble with changes like this coming from ministers in ivory
towers is that they have left our roads to be policed by speed cameras
rather than real traffic officers - and so people will carry on
getting away with offences like this.

Home Office figures for 2004 show that nearly 74,000 fixed-penalty
notices were issued in England and Wales for illegal use of a mobile
phone while driving.

A Liberal Democrat study last year suggested this meant only 1.1% of
those who admitted to the offence were being caught.

The party combined the Home Office figures and an insurance firms
survey on driving habits to calculate that 6.7m people use mobiles
while behind the wheel.

If the police or the driver choose to take a case to court rather than
use a fixed-penalty notice, the maximum fine is Ł1,000, or Ł2,500 for
drivers of vans, lorries, buses and coaches.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk politics/6287005.stm

Steve wrote in message
news:742ar25bdahasf427i6ek7grc2qh2s1qic@4ax.com...
Newest traffic law today here is 2000 krones find if you dont scrape the
snow and ice off all your car windows, Steve.

Sensibly, Edith.

Absolutely right. Down here in London / Surrey it is incrdible how many
t0$$ers you see in 30k cars who cant afford 50 quid for a handsfree kit.

4 strikes and theyre banned - hooray!

TFP

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:59:50 +0000, I waved a wand and this message
magically appears in front of Steve:

Steve wrote in message
news:742ar25bdahasf427i6ek7grc2qh2s1qic@4ax.com...

The sooner the better. We see motorists and van drivers every day trying to
negotiate busy High Streets or roundabouts with their mobile phones held to
their ears. Its a culture that will take some changing.

Rex

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:43:58 +0000, TFP wrote:

With most new phones its just a case of plugging a wire into the phone
and clipping it onto your shirt.

Even if they were given away free, who wants to look like a Star Trek
cast-off, with a naff lump of plastic stuck in your ear?

--
JAF
anarchatntlworldfullstopcom
Keep Science Scientific
BCSE http://bcseweb.org.uk

JAF writes:


I dont much care how I look; it means I can write, type, make tea,
etc, at the same time as talking on h phone.

The first one I had was really cool - it had a flashing red.green led
at the tip of the boom. The new one just sits behind my ear, very
discreetly, like a hearing aid.

--
theres no time