Check what you know
Did you know?
Best practice tips:
Check what you know
Did you know?
- Mobile devices are a major distraction – but they are not the only one.
- Distractions can include eating, drinking, setting satnav, radios etc – anything that takes your eyes off the road or distracts your concentration on driving.
- Distraction is a major cause of collisions with drivers four times more likely to be in a crash if using a mobile device (even hands-free).
Drivers must not text, make calls, play games, scroll through playlists, take photos or videos, or browse the web while driving.
It is illegal to hold and use a phone, sat nav, tablet, or any device that can send or receive data while driving. If caught doing so, drivers can face fines of up to £1,000, receive six points on their licence, or a full driving ban.
Many employers will also discipline drivers for doing so and it will increase the cost of vehicle insurance.
Just reading a text or email takes a driver’s eyes off the road for at least five seconds.
Best practice tips:
- Where possible, switch mobile phones to a form of safe-driving mode e.g. silent mode or switched off and put it in your glove box out of sight.
- If using hands-free devices, make sure they are fully set up before starting to drive.
- Only use hands-free devices when you are happy it is safe to do so.
- Do not hold or interact with a mobile device while driving.
- Using a mobile phone for navigation is legal, as long as it is kept in a cradle and not in the driver’s hand.
- If you need to use a device held in your hand, you must ensure you are safely parked before doing so.
The government has implemented the penalty of life imprisonment by causing death while driving with a hand-held device.
Although the law allows drivers to use their phone while driving, if it is properly set up as a hands-free device, your employer’s policy may not allow this.
Hands-free devices attached to the windscreen or dashboard should not obscure the driver’s view of the road. Drivers can get three penalty points if they do not have a full view of the road and traffic ahead, or proper control of the vehicle.
Distracted drivers who cause death by dangerous driving face life imprisonment, an unlimited fine and obligatory five year minimum driving ban.
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