UK – Tough sentencing for those using mobiles whilst driving
By Ben Robinson on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 1:29 AM PST In The Digital Life
From today in the UK, new measures are being put in to place by the Ministry of Justice, to try and curb the usage of mobile “devices” whilst driving. These measures will act of the components of the offence which is called “Causing Death by Careless Driving”.
Essentially they consist of the various distractions that a car driver might come under whilst in control of a vehicle, and could be being on the phone, texting, drinking and eating, adjusting a GPS or car stereo, applying make-up or reading a map.
The Ministry of Justice even lists smartphones such as Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) as possible driving distractions.
And as for the sentencing, previously the maximum punishment was fiscal-based, with a £5K fine and points on the licence – now you could get a 5 year prison term. Tougher indeed, but what remains to be seen is whether this will have the desired effect.
[Via: Pocketlint.co.uk]
