From the 1st of March the fine will be £200 and there will be 6 penalty points imposed. Good! I can't stand people phoning or texting etc. at the wheel.

I have overheard bravado whilst out and about such as one guy who said something like who cares? Cops won't catch me using it. I don't know how people manage to be caught using it!

He could have been all talk to be fair but the attitude of some drivers is terrible, they really don't care. Do you know anyone who uses their phone at the wheel? Any confessions to such usage?  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

This is a pet hate of mine. It should be a ban, not points.
Main culprits I observe mostly are young girls , white van man. and taxi drivers, although not necessarily in that order.
Taxi drivers tend to drive very slow in fast moving traffic, causing a hazard, white van man and young girls tend to just weave around like they are drunk, brake lights flashing on and off, as they think that it makes it safer by applying the brakes every now and then.
However, although I observe a large cross-section of phone users at the wheel. I just come across the above on a more regular basis.
Ban 'em. ban 'em all I say !!!

Travelling to work most days by motorcycle and filtering between lanes of slow moving traffic I see it 20 times a day at least on a 4 mile stretch of the A13. You can tell who's texting 100 yards before you get to them because they are drifting into other lanes of they have a 10 car gap in front of them where they haven't noticed the traffic has moved. One other thing that I get to notice on a bike that car drivers don't especially in the summer when car windows are open, is the number of drivers smoking cannabis. Much, much more than you'd ever imagine. I can smell that long before I get to them. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

Unfortunately, even hands free phones are a distraction. I used them a lot when I was working and often found that I would be cruising up the motorway with half my mind on driving and half on the conversation. The worst thing was when you have a boss on the phone demanding that you resolve some problem asap requiring you to phone someone up immediately and sort it out. I guess it's just something you have to live with these days. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Hanging is too good for these drivers!  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Hypothetically..

The problem with giving out tickets is the 'your word against mine' scenario, unless it's caught on video (rarely).

Rightly or wrongly, gone are the days when magistrates accept that something happened just because a cop says it did.

I once spent a day in Court trying to convince a magistrate that it was irrelevant how fast the driver was travelling as he made a call. "But could he have been slowing down at the time, officer?" FFS!

We can't inspect or seize the driver's mobile phone as evidence (deemed disproportionate) and the budget isn't there to get call logs from the mobile phone companies to produce in Court.
Even call logs don't tell the whole story - you can still commit the offence by handling your phone as you look up contact details, dial a call, check Facebook, etc etc. Those are things that would only show up on a forensic examination of the phone - see above.

It's all very well raising the penalties but unless it's enforceable (and there are cops out there to enforce it) it's all a bit academic.

Whilst everyone is responsible for their own actions I believe the mobile manufacturers should do more - such use should be made impossible and 'designed out'.

Steve D wrote:

Travelling to work most days by motorcycle and filtering between lanes of slow moving traffic I see it 20 times a day at least on a 4 mile stretch of the A13. You can tell who's texting 100 yards before you get to them because they are drifting into other lanes of they have a 10 car gap in front of them where they haven't noticed the traffic has moved. One other thing that I get to notice on a bike that car drivers don't especially in the summer when car windows are open, is the number of drivers smoking cannabis. Much, much more than you'd ever imagine. I can smell that long before I get to them.

I have to respond here. In the last post about the diver using a mobile whilst driving, the magistrate was wrong to ask that question and this should have been picked up by the legal adviser. As for police evidence this unfortunately cannot always be relied upon.  Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

I often see drivers at the wheel - more often now looking down at their lap reading a screen rather than holding it to their ear.

I work in education and will confront drivers on site who are using their phone. One morning a delivery driver arrived and proceeded to reverse up to make his delivery whilst on his phone. All around children were moving to their lessons. When I spoke to him, through the window whilst he was still on his phone, he said that it wasn't a problem as he was only going slowly. He hung up after I replied as to whether that is what he would say if I was a police officer. He clearly didn't see it as a problem. 2016 BMW X3 30d SE in red
MY2013 SD4 XS Firenze Red, 19" 10 spoke contrast paint wheels, Signature Strips, Grand Black Lacquer trim, Cold Climate Pack - gone!
2007 TD4 S Stornoway Grey - gone!