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Motorists caught driving dangerously while using a handheld mobile phone face
jail under new guidelines.
The Crown Prosecution Service guidance follows a policy change announced in
September because of concerns that too many drivers flouted the ban.
Most drivers will still face the standard penalty of a fine and points.
But where driving falls far short of what is safe, prosecutors can press
charges of dangerous driving, which carries a maximum two-year sentence.
When he announced the change in policy earlier this year, Director of Public
Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald said such cases could include sending a text
message while driving.
Hands-free ban
Meanwhile, a major employer has banned the use of legal hands-free kits because
of research suggesting they have no safety benefits.
Chatting to a passenger can be distracting, but what we found is that it's less
so than having a mobile call
Dr Nick Reed
Transport Research Laboratory
One of the UK's biggest transport companies, FirstGroup, has announced that
none of its employees will be allowed to use hands-free mobiles.
FirstGroup operates more than one in five local bus services across the UK, and
trains including First Great Western.
The firm's bus and train drivers are already banned from using them and that
will be extended to any staff on company business.
It follows findings by the Transport Research Laboratory that having a phone
conversation could be more dangerous than drink-driving.
According to the research, a driver on the phone is more distracted than one
who has drunk as much as the legal alcohol limit.
'Modify conversation'
The risk of a crash was four times higher when the driver was on the phone, the
study found.
Dr Nick Reed, from the laboratory, told the BBC that part of the danger from
using a mobile phone was because the person at the other end could not see the
driver.
He said: "Chatting to a passenger can be distracting, but what we found is that
it's less so than having a mobile call.
"What we think that is to do with is that the passenger can see the traffic
around you and can maybe pick up on your body language cues, and then modify
the conversation accordingly."
HAVE YOUR SAY
How do you enforce a hands-free ban? Are the police going to pull over everyone
who appears to be talking?
Peter, Norwich
The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, a charity which
lobbies MPs, told BBC Radio 5 live that there was "still a hard core" of
drivers who continued to use handheld mobile phones.
Executive director Rob Gifford said factors taken into consideration by
prosecutors would include speed and overtaking.
"Those are all factors which the Crown Prosecution Service would consider and
think 'yep, there was this incident, these things contributed to that incident
taking place, therefore we'll lay a charge of dangerous driving rather than one
of careless,'" he said.