Judging by the number of people I still see using mobile phones whilst driving it would seem very few people are aware that the The Road Safety Bill received Royal Assent on 8th November 2006.
The first part of this bill to be activated seems to be Section 26 which covers "Breach of requirements as to control of vehicle,mobile telephones etc".
This section provides for the obligatory endorsenent ( with disqualification at the court's discretion ) for using a mobile phone whilst driving.
Currently this is just a fixed penalty offence and must not have been an effective deterrent as the new legislation will add 3 penalty points to your licence as well as a fine.
So if you get caught on your phone 4 times , you could lose your licence under the totting up of points"
The rest of the bill " contains a raft of measures designed to help achieve casualty reduction targets and improve safety on Britain's roads".
Some of these include :-
The banning of radar and laser detectors , these devices actually detect the signals given out by speed cameras etc and warn the driver unlike GPS based devices which have a database of known accident blackspots which mat have a fixed or mobile camera present. GPS only based devices are not affected and continue to be legal.
Graduated penalty points for speeding and other offences , e.g. the number of points you get depends how far over the speed limit you where.
The Act enables the Secretary of State to require the worst drink-drive offenders to re-take the driving test.
Mandatory recording of vehicle mileages ( currently optional ) to combat vehicle "clocking".
A new offence of being the registered keeper of a vehicle , the use of which is not insured. Presumably this means if the vehicle is taxed it must be insured otherwise SORN applies.
Extension of the rules governing the suppliers of number plates to N.Ireland and Scotland.
These will be activated over the coming months but the mobile phone offence is law now , You have been warned !
