New Mobile Rules

[ianbcr]

This is from a retired cop who posted this on another site, So if your on a bike and use your phone as a sat nav and mess with it your more likely to be seen. Note the NO USE OF HEADPHONES.
Just had this all confirmed by
ESSEX POLICE by E Mail.
NO MORE HEADPHONES

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
__________________
Retired but not expired.

[Mitch1100]

You guys must be well behind times over there...it has been the rules hear almost since mobile phones were introduced. Means nothing to some idiots though, you see it daily.
"Death by dangerous driving is now life imprisonment, no longer 14 years" ...awesome we need that here. A friends son, who was a young doctor, was killed while cycling by a woman on her phone who lost control.

[milleplod]

I don't condone using a mobile while driving, in my opinion the fine should be £1000 and it should carry 9 points.

There are no 'new mobile rules', the only thing that's changing is the penalty if caught using. The 'retired bobby' (on a Mercedes forum) is giving his (or perhaps Essex police's) interpretation of the existing legislation - some of it is nonsense.

'You cant use loud speaker from your phone' - really? Where's the legislation that covers that then?
'You cant use headphones' - really? Where's the legislation that covers that then?
'If you call someone and they are driving, hang up' - why? They could be on a perfectly-legal hands-free setup.

Some of it is, of course, common sense, no one should do anything that results in them not being in proper control of their vehicle (which is a specific offence), but ill-read internet experts quoting 'new rules' are quite annoying!

Pete

[SP250]

'Le sens commun est fort rare.' springs to mind, a quote from Voltaire.

[milleplod]

As is accurate reporting of the law!

Pete

[slparry]

Personally, as mobile use (in particular texting/facebooking/twitter etc) is often labelled as more dangerous than drink driving, I'd be happy to see the sentencing to reflect that and be the same.

I was following an Astra last night that was weaving a bit, when I got closer the guy could be seen to be swapping music tracks on his phone while it was on a cradle attached to his windscreen. So busy was he sorting his music he went straight across a mini roundabout causing traffic who had the right of way to almost crash into him.

Handsfree kits are cheap, my Parrot kit in my car was £90, the phone stays in my pocket and it auto connect with Bluetooth, and even if someone cannot afford the £90 a Bluetooth earpiece can be had for under a tenner

[milleplod]

Quite agree Steve. I can't understand people in high-end cars, which must have in-built Bluetooth, who continue to use a mobile in their hand. Presumably its too much trouble to set the system up properly. A Bluetooth speaker, the sort that clips onto the sunvisor, is only £20 or so - my wife uses a Jabra one in her little van. Its crystal clear at both ends, auto-connects on entering the vehicle and its battery lasts forever. Having said that, I'm moving away from having the phone even switched on in the car these days - I can't think of one call I've taken in the car that couldn't have waited, and I never make a call when I'm driving anyway.

Pete

[fontana]

I'm in total agreement with stricter laws regarding mobiles, but at the same time I can't help think it's getting a bit hysterical.
You're basically not allowed to touch your phone whilst the engine is switched on, but yet there are no laws saying that you can't reach down and adjust the volume, or flick through the channels on the radio.

There are allsorts of distractions you can encounter as a driver that are far worse than a phone.
Perhaps we should ban passengers talking to the driver of a car for example.

[f90x]

I'm in total agreement with stricter laws regarding mobiles, but at the same time I can't help think it's getting a bit hysterical.
You're basically not allowed to touch your phone whilst the engine is switched on, but yet there are no laws saying that you can't reach down and adjust the volume, or flick through the channels on the radio.

There are allsorts of distractions you can encounter as a driver that are far worse than a phone.
Perhaps we should ban passengers talking to the driver of a car for example.

It is quite obvious even without Pete's/Milleplod explanation that most of that list is nonsense. We are still allowed to touch the phone when the engine is on. Nothing has changed other than the fine.

[fontana]

It is quite obvious even without Pete's/Milleplod explanation that most of that list is nonsense. We are still allowed to touch the phone when the engine is on. Nothing has changed other than the fine.

Perhaps it was a little subtle for me.
But I get a bit annoyed about the hysteria over this.
Yes talking on the phone while driving is wrong, and should in my opinion, carry the same penalty as drink driving.
HOWEVER.
Common sense is needed.
Couple of years ago I was in a jam on the M25.
The queue went as far as the eye could see, and was static.
I decided to phone ahead to let people know I was going to be late, when there was a thud on my window.
Some self appointed Police wannabe gave me a lecture about using my phone while driving.
I asked him, using a bit of common sense, I'm in my car with the engine off going nowhere, and am not likely to be for some time yet.
Exactly what danger am I presenting to other road users by making a call to let people know I'm delayed so they don't worry.
He just walked off in a huff calling me names, but this is an example of the sort of irrational hysteria that this subject tends to generate.

[milleplod]

It is quite obvious even without Pete's/Milleplod explanation that most of that list is nonsense. We are still allowed to touch the phone when the engine is on. Nothing has changed other than the fine.

Perhaps it was a little subtle for me.
But I get a bit annoyed about the hysteria over this.
Yes talking on the phone while driving is wrong, and should in my opinion, carry the same penalty as drink driving.
HOWEVER.
Common sense is needed.
Couple of years ago I was in a jam on the M25.
The queue went as far as the eye could see, and was static.
I decided to phone ahead to let people know I was going to be late, when there was a thud on my window.
Some self appointed Police wannabe gave me a lecture about using my phone while driving.
I asked him, using a bit of common sense, I'm in my car with the engine off going nowhere, and am not likely to be for some time yet.
Exactly what danger am I presenting to other road users by making a call to let people know I'm delayed so they don't worry.
He just walked off in a huff calling me names, but this is an example of the sort of irrational hysteria that this subject tends to generate.

You weren't committing an offence....he, wrongly, thought you were. Where was the 'irrational hysteria' exactly? Calling your example such sounds like....well, irrational hysteria really.

Pete

[kfrogzx7]

What's the law about cyclists wearing headsets ( and probably doing nearly 30 mph on the pavement and across red lights / pedestrian crossings !! ) ? When is there going to be a clamp down on that ?
And joggers for that matter, they're completely unaware of what's happening on the road around them sometimes.

[fontana]

What's the law about cyclists wearing headsets ( and probably doing nearly 30 mph on the pavement and across red lights / pedestrian crossings !! ) ? When is there going to be a clamp down on that ?

Little chance.
Cycling is seen as the future by the hysterical green left.
Last thing they'll put up with is legislation that alienates cyclists.

[milleplod]

There's already more than enough legislation in place to cover just about any stupidity a cyclist might feel he's entitled to indulge in. The problem, as ever, is that there's barely anyone out there to enforce it and, even if there was, there's no interest in doing so.

Pete

[tanneman]

2.5 deaths per week. That 1/2 a death does it occur when the week comes to an end and a new one start or does it mean that 2 are dead for certain and 1/2 is fubar.