General Discussion
Just a reminder people as from 1st March the penalty for using a mobile phone while driving is 6 penalty points and a £200 fine.
Good, the proportion of bad drivers on the road is scary. I see so many driving on your side of the road, cutting corners or ignoring crossings and pedestrians it makes my eyes water 
FROM SOUTHWEST TRUCKERS WEBSITE = CONFIRMED:
**6 points and £200 fine for using a mobile whilst driving from 1st March 2017**
Advice to keep it simple:
- Keep your mobile in a craddle or glove box
- You cant touch the phone if its in a craddle, even if you stop at lights and even if your parked up with the engine on...
- If you want to use the sat nav on a mobile or plug the charger in. You must set it up before keys are in the ignition and dont touch it once engine is on
- You cant scroll for tracks on your mobile while driving so have your playlist set up before entering the car
- If you work for Uber or alike, you cant touch the phone when the engine is on. So you cant accept work while your on the move
- Mobile can only be used if your parked up safely with engine off and keys out of ignition (Wireless keys - engine off)
- Death by dangerous driving is now life imprisonment, no longer 14 years
- You can use a mobile via built in-car technology like bluethooth. However, if you do have a collision, it can go against you.
- You cant use headphones
- You cant use loud speaker from your phone
- You cant move your phone while the engine is on
- If you call someone and they are driving, hang up
- If you are a passenger and the driver is using a phone, take it off them and tell them off
- If you are a employer and you force your staff to use a phone, It can result into imprisonment for you, large fines and your company being suspended from operation
- Rules apply to PDAs also
Note:
- 2.5 deaths a week due to a driver using a mobile phone
- No verbal warnings
more info here (and note there is something 'special' for those within two years of passing their driving test).
Whillst fully suporting the new rules. I hope they will also be applied to the Police as their traffic cars are full of communication equipment, camera's, ANPR systems, etc, and despite their claimed special driver training they are not imune to having and causing accidents and are increasinly single manned which means all this stuff is being operated on the move by the driver.
Unless the law has changed since I knew, you can operate a two way radio whilst driving. However police radios now incorporate a mobile phone which arguably means that its use falls under the same legislation as mobile phones. This means that if a police car is is single manned, the driver will have to park legally before talking on the radio. In a fast moving emergency situation (such as a police pursuit), this is not practicable. One answer is to make sure every emergency response police car is double manned, with a radio operator who can communicate with the police control and update the driver on the move. Sadly, we have seen on the local news that this is not happening. All I can say is please support our local police if you see them in trouble. I believe they really need our help now.