Changes to using your mobile phone while driving: How the law is changing from Friday
Motorists are being reminded the law around using your mobile phone while driving is changing.
It is already illegal to use a hand-held device to make phone calls and send messages, except in an emergency.
But from Friday (March 25) “using” a hand-held device will be expanded to cover:
* Illuminating the screen
* Checking the time
* Checking notifications
* Unlocking the device
* Making, receiving or rejecting a telephone or internet-based call
* Sending, receiving or uploading oral or written content
* Sending , receiving or uploading a photo or video
* Utilising camera, video or sound recording
* Drafting any text
* Accessing any stored data such as documents, books, audio files, photos, videos, films, playlists, notes or messages
* Accessing an app
* Accessing the internet
There is an exemption which allows drivers to use a mobile to make a contactless payment while the vehicle is stationary at places such as drive-through restaurants and car parks. Using a mobile phone for navigation will continue to be legal, as long as it is kept in a cradle and not in the driver’s hand.
Sergeant Johnson from West Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit explains why these changes have been introduced and the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving in the You Tube video.
More information is available from the UKI Parliament website HERE .
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