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Graham Hill’s gadget of the week is a great new mobile phone hands free system called the Jabra Freeway speakerphone. It’s a Bluetooth connected hands-free device, voice activated with the capability of turning itself off automatically. The unit is fixed to the sun visor and can be connected to your phone by simply hitting the voice Read more »

Mobile phone users who still use their phones whilst driving without a hands free kit are back in the news as conviction figures show another fall. Recently published figures show that convictions in England and Wales were down to 116,000 in 2008/9, down by 5% on the previous year, which in turn was down on the 167,000 convictions in 2006/7 even though the use of a mobile phone whilst driving was introduced as Read more »

There is pressure mounting to introduce a total ban on mobile phones whilst driving. Latest research shows that even drivers using a hands free phone took 20% longer to hit the brakes in an emergency when on the phone. Following distances increased by 30% as drivers failed to keep up with traffic in front and memory performance fell by 11%. The study was carried out by the University of Utah. Road charity, BRAKE Read more »

Mobile phone use, whilst driving, has increased to levels reached before legislation was introduced in 2003, according to observers working for the Department for Transport. I don’t mean hands free I mean using a handheld phone. The observations were made between 2008 and 2009 and show an increase of 27%. The worst offenders are van and lorry drivers. Observations were made at various sites in the south of Read more »

What Car have reminded us of the dangers of using a phone whilst driving. They have estimated that around 100,000 drivers are risking their lives and prosecution, at any point in time, by using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving. The original laws introduced in 2003 were beefed up in 2007 to guarantee you 3 points on your licence and a £60 fine if caught using a mobile phone whilst driving (which means the engine is running even though you may not be moving). As What Car points out, even with hands free kits Read more »

Calls for a total mobile phone ban have come from safety experts following a landmark case. Lynne-Marie Howden, a director and head of sales at business consultancy Insights was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. But she was found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving which resulted in a 12 month ban and a fine of £2,000. Ms Howden was talking on her hands free phone to a works Read more »

There has been a marked increase in the number of drivers talking on mobile phones whilst driving. The reason has been put down to increased work pressure by employers on employees who fear that missing critical calls or failing to call back customers could cost the company orders. The employees are doing it, even though they know it’s illegal, because they also need the commission. The sad fact is that Read more »

Mobile phones are in the spotlight again. This time as a result of the dangers posed by the various alert text messages causing drivers to check their phones whilst driving which is of course illegal and very dangerous. The one that has come in for most criticism is traffic alerts provided by Trafficmaster. The idea was to enable drivers to receive updates before Read more »

The Sentencing Guideline Council who advise magistrates and judges as to the recommended maximum term felons should face if committed for particular crimes have issued new guidlines for the the newly established crimes of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving. The new laws and associated prison sentences cover such things as momentarily looking at a map, adjusting their sat-nav and talking on a hands free phone, each of these will result in a maximum of Read more »