The legislation across the world and the penalties imposed for using a mobile phone whilst driving vary greatly.

The penalty for using a phone whilst driving in the UK was updated in March 2017. Prior to this an offence of using a hand held mobile phone whilst driving carried a £100 fine and three penalty points for standard car drivers. The government ran a consultation on increasing the penalty and their preferred option (the harshest) was to increase the fine to £150 and the points to 4. At the conclusion of the consultation the government announced their decision. The fine would increase to £200 and would carry 6 penalty points. In the UK a driver loses their licence if they acquire 12 points (demerits) on their licence. This change effectively made using a phone whilst driving a ‘2 strikes and your out’ policy. New drivers with less than 2yrs experience must not accrue more than 6 points in the first 2yrs of driving making it a single strike.

The legislation is easy at times to enforce and very difficult at others depending on the use of the phone at the time and for police to be able to prove it.

The UK law in simple terms can be found here;

https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

The full legislation is here;

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/2695/regulation/2/made