Image: DfT
Travel Safe Bucks is using the current national mobile phone campaign to highlight the upcoming law change.
Announced in November 2021, the new law bans drivers from using their phones to take photos or videos, scroll through playlists or play games.
The national mobile phone campaign is being co-ordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council. It got underway with communications activity from 7 February, followed by an increased focus on enforcement from 21 February.
Travel Safe Bucks says it wants to promote the change in plenty of time, so drivers don’t get caught out.
Current law states it is a criminal offence to use a hand-held mobile phone to call or text while driving – but a legal loophole has ensured drivers have escaped punishment for other actions.
This is because such actions aren’t seen as ‘interactive communication’, and therefore do not fit the current definition of the offence.
In addition to the strengthening of the laws around mobile phones, The Highway Code will also become more precise about the fact that it is also illegal to use a phone whilst stationary in traffic or stopped at traffic lights, as being stationary in a car counts as ‘driving’.
Travel Safe Bucks adds that using a mobile phone “is an incredibly dangerous thing to do and puts so many people at risk”.
Steven Broadbent, cabinet member for transport at Buckinghamshire County Council, said: “Please set up your satnav or music before you head off on your journey and put your phone out of reach to avoid temptation. Sending a quick text, taking a quick photo… it is just not worth the risk.
“All it takes is a quick glance away from the road, down at your phone, for you to break the law and worse still, risk catastrophic consequences, to you, your passengers and the public.”
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