Six points on your license if you handle your phone at the wheel: Motorists could also face £200 fine for using their mobile while driving as ministers seek to toughen laws over device use on the roads

  • New laws make it illegal to use a phone while driving in nearly all cases.
  • The ban on touching the screen in order to scroll music or browse the internet, view a photo, play a game, or take a picture will come into effect from the beginning of next year.
  • These strict rules also apply to traffic stops or stopped at red lights 
  • Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, stated that the new changes will make it simpler to prosecute drivers who disregard the rules. 










Drivers will soon face £200 fines and six points on their licence if they so much as touch their phone while at the wheel, ministers announced last night.

In almost every circumstance, phone driving while intoxicated will become illegal under new laws.

A ban will be implemented in the first half of next year for touching the screen to browse music, scroll the internet, or take a photo.

These strict rules also apply to traffic stops or at red lights.

Tougher laws taking effect early next year will make phone use while driving illegal in almost all circumstances. Pictured: A man uses his phone while driving (stock image)

Phone use while driving will be made illegal by stricter laws that take effect in the first quarter of next year. Pictured (stock image: A driver uses his cellphone while driving)

Only one exception: Drivers can still use their smartphone as a satellite navigation device as long as they keep it in a safe place, such as in a case. You will be able to make mobile payments in drive-thru restaurants and on toll roads.

If they’re not in good control, however, any motorist who does one or more of these things could face prosecution.

These changes will strengthen laws that prohibit driving while texting and calling.

This move was initially announced in January last year but it was later delayed. Ministers last night announced that this will happen in the early part of next year.

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said that the new changes will make it simpler to bring charges against drivers who disregard the rules. ‘Too many deaths and injuries occur whilst mobile phones are being held,’ he said.

‘By making it easier to prosecute people illegally using their phone at the wheel, we are ensuring the law is brought into the 21st century while further protecting all road users.

‘While our roads remain among the safest in the world, we will continue working tirelessly to make them safer, including through our award-winning THINK! campaign, which challenges social norms among high-risk drivers.’

The Daily Mail’s End The Mobile Madness campaign has called for tougher penalties for drivers who recklessly put the lives of others at risk by using their phones.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps (pictured in the House of Commons on Thursday) said the changes would make it easier to prosecute drivers who ignore the rules. ‘Too many deaths and injuries occur whilst mobile phones are being held,’ he said

Grant Shapps from Transport Secretary, was seen in Parliament on Thursday. He stated that it would be easier to bring charges against drivers who disregard the rules. ‘Too many deaths and injuries occur whilst mobile phones are being held,’ he said

The idea of a blanket ban on driving while using mobiles was first proposed two years ago. The legislation has been refined and now includes a small amount of exceptions, following a public consult that saw 81% support. 

Highway Code will provide details about the changes and clarify that even stationary traffic, using a cellphone is prohibited.

For emergency calls where stopping is impossible, or remote-controlled parking functions, exemptions may be granted.

Highways England tested high-definition cameras to take photos of drivers through windscreens.

These could theoretically be attached to overhead gantries and drivers who violate them would receive prosecution notices, in much the same manner as speeding tickets. This is not yet being implemented.

Mary Williams, chief executive of road safety charity Brake, called the announcement, which coincides with Road Safety Week, ‘very welcome’. She added: ‘Driver distraction can be deadly and using a hand-held phone at the wheel is never worth the risk.

‘This news is particularly welcomed by families suffering bereavement and catastrophic injury due to drivers being distracted by phones.’

AA president Edmund King said: ‘By making mobile phone use as socially unacceptable as drink-driving, we are taking big steps to make our roads safer.

‘For years, the AA has campaigned hard and helped educate drivers to the dangers from bad mobile phone use.

‘To help ensure drivers get the message, we also need more cops in cars to help catch and deter those still tempted to pick up.’ 

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