Hands-Free Driving Laws UK 2017 | £200 fine and 6 points.

Hands-Free driving laws are getting tougher. About time...Oh Yes! You heard me. The law is about to get that bit tougher on everyone who uses their mobile phone whilst driving. This could be particularly bad if you have just passed your driving test.

Hands Free Driving | Tougher laws on using mobile phones.

Good or Bad?

DOUBLE THE PUNISHMENT Personally I think the person who's caught should get a ban, your driving license is a privilege and you should look after it, and be a responsible driver. Please let me know what you think in the comments below.

Hands-Free Driving | Fixed Penalty Notice

Penalties

Even if you’re otherwise driving safely:

You could be fined £200 and get six points on your license.
6 points would mean losing your license if you're less than two years from passing your test.
Refuse to accept the fixed penalty and you could be taken to court.
If the police think the offense so bad that a fixed penalty isn’t enough you could be taken to court.

Fines in court will almost certainly be larger and disqualification is possible – the maximum fine in a court is £1,000, or £2,500 you were driving a bus or a goods vehicle.

You only need to be seen

These offenses apply simply if you’re seen using a mobile while driving.

The police have even been using unmarked lorries to observe drivers who text or phone as the higher seating position means they can see and record offenses not normally visible from a car.

If your driving’s bad, or if there’s a crash while you’re using the phone, you could be prosecuted for careless driving, dangerous driving or, if someone is killed, for causing death by careless or dangerous driving.

Fines can be much greater, and prison's almost certain if a death's caused.

Hands-free

While it's an offence to be seen using a hand held phone, regardless of whether driving has been affected, this is not the case for hands-free phones.

If you’re seen not to be in control of a vehicle while using a hands-free phone you can be prosecuted for that offence.

The penalties for 'not in proper control' are:

£100 fine and 3 points, or
Up to £1,000 (£2,500 if you were driving a bus or a goods vehicle) if it goes to court.

Employers

Your employer may be open to prosecution:

If they cause or permit you to drive while using a phone or to not have proper control of the vehicle.
If they require you to make or receive calls whilst driving.
If you drive dangerously because you're using a phone installed by your employer.

Cyclists

It's not a specific offence to cycle and use a hand held mobile phone but you could be prosecuted for careless or dangerous cycling.

Exemptions

You can make an emergency call to 999 or 112 as long as it’s unsafe or impractical to stop first.
You can use a two-way radio but not any other device that sends or receives data.

Definitions

Handheld device – something that "is or must be held at some point during the course of making or receiving a call or performing any other interactive communication function".
Device – "similar" to a mobile phone if it performs an interactive communication function by transmitting and receiving data.

#NeverTextDrive

The AA Trust has embarked on a yearlong campaign to change behaviour towards driver distraction.

The campaign kicked off with the launch of a new film, 'Cadence'.

A young film-maker became so uncomfortable by her peers’ driving and use of mobiles at the wheel that she has produced a film with a safety twist, thanks to funding from the AA Charitable Trust.