USING YOUR PHONE LEGALLY WHILE DRIVING
It’s not completely illegal to use your mobile phone while driving. However, it’s very important to know the laws surrounding mobile phone use. Illegal phone use while behind the wheel doesn’t just put the lives of you and everyone around you at risk, but could also land you a criminal record.
Since 2017, driving laws have become stricter. Whilst you used to incur three penalty points on your licence and a small fine (£60 in 2007, and £100 from 2013 onwards), the penalty doubled three years ago. Now, being caught using your mobile phone illegally while driving will land you a £200 fine and add six points to your licence.
If you’re caught more than once, the penalties become even more serious. Once you have twelve points against your name for breaking the laws on mobile phone use - that’s just two offences - you will automatically appear in court. Once you reach this stage, you can receive a £1000 fine and be banned from driving for six months. If you’re a new driver, you may have your licence revoked entirely.
For this reason, it’s important to know what is and isn’t legal when it comes to using your mobile phone while driving. Here is everything you need to know.
Using a hands-free mobile phone when driving
You are only allowed to use a mobile phone while driving if it is entirely hands-free. However, if you do use a mobile phone hands-free, you must not be distracted at all. The police still have the right to stop you if they believe a hands-free phone is distracting you from the road.
Both Nissan and Honda cars include technology designed to help you remain entirely hands-free while driving. Honda’s HandsFreeLink technology provides easy Bluetooth connectivity that won’t distract you from the road. If you drive a Nissan, you can buy Bluetooth adapters or kits so you can stream music and take calls without needing to touch your phone.
Touching your phone while driving
Following on from this, it is completely against the law to touch your phone while driving. If you need to touch your phone for any reason and don’t have the hands-free technology to do so, you will need to pull over and take a break from driving to do so legally.
Driving while using Bluetooth
Driving while using Bluetooth is legal, as long as you do not touch your phone and are not distracted. In fact, Bluetooth technology is commonly used in both Honda and Nissan vehicles to help you stay legal when using your phone while driving.
Can you have your phone on speaker while driving?
Having your phone on speaker while driving is legal as long as you don’t need to use your hands to answer or end the call.