Thursday 20 December 2007

Mobile phone driving jail threat

I have spent a fair amount of time in my car over the past few weeks, visiting customers of my business. While I've done so, I 've kept in touch with the Constituency office and the staff in my business using my hands free, voice activated, bluetooth phone. In doing so I believe I'm making effective use of my time, often while stuck in a jam on the Motorway. So I was very interested in the debate on the Jeremy Vine show about proposals for a charge of dangerous driving for using a hand held phone which could lead to a jail sentence, with some people going as far as to call for a ban on the use of hands free devices. I'm happy that use of a hand held phone while driving should be against the law but consider a jail sentence and the thought of a ban on hands free use in tha car as just another assault on the motorist. The motorist is already an easy target with law abiding and insured drivers coughing up each time they are caught on a speed camera. Perhaps the target should instead be the increasing numbers of untaxed and uninsured drivers on our roads who are not persued effectively when they break the law. I wonder how many of them use a hand held mobile?