UK lawmakers have finally made it illegal to use a mobile phone at all while driving. Until now it has been illegal to text or call when while you are a driving a vehicle but it has been technically legal to use your phone in other ways, such as playing games, taking photos, picking musical, and more. Until now it has been easy for drivers to excuse using phones while driving because of this loophole.
The law will be updated to encompass all interactions with your mobile phone being made illegal. Safe to say, it's a good idea for anyone to put their phone away while driving - it's just common sense.
As phones get more advanced, there is more and more opportunity for it to be a distraction to drivers. Phones, of course, just used to be used for communication rather than being a high tech computer in your pocket with millions of uses. Once the update is in place, if anyone is caught using their phone while driving, they will receive a fine of £200 and six points on their license. If you're unfamiliar with the points system, once any driver reaches 12 points on their license, they are banned from driving altogether.
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According to the Guardian, the roads minister Baroness Charlotte Vere says: "Our roads are some of the safest in the world, but we want to make sure they're safer still by bringing the law into 21st century.
"That's why we're looking to strengthen the law to make using a hand-held phone while driving illegal in a wider range of circumstances. It's distracting and dangerous, and for too long risky drivers have been able to escape punishment, but this update will mean those doing the wrong thing will face the full force of the law."
There are rules, however, that will still allow motorists to use phones as tools during a drive - paying for items in drive-throughs for example, or using your phone as a navigation device if you aren't holding it.
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