From today’s Times (side bar, page 13):
Hands-free driver
A motorist has been arrested after steering with his knees while using two mobile phones. Police saw the man driving along a section of the A47 at Blofield, near Norwich, with one phone at his ear while he texted on a second phone. A police spokeswoman said, “Using one mobile phone is silly, but two is amazingly silly.”
At least the Norfolk Constabulary are taking the use of mobile phones while driving seriously:
More than 70 drivers were caught using their mobile phones while behind the wheel in the first week of a crackdown in the county.
A two-week campaign urging motorists to ‘zip it behind the wheel’ has so far seen 72 people caught flouting the law by using their phones while driving.
The campaign, run by the Think! Norfolk Partnership, has caught drivers texting while overtaking an unmarked police car, an HGV driver using a phone while driving and a driver pulling out of a junction whilst on the phone.
The people who have been caught by Norfolk police officers will have to appear in court to face a £60 fixed penalty notice and three penalty points on their licence, or will have to agree to undertake a “re-education programme” to avoid those penalties.
Iain Temperton, chairman of the Think! Norfolk Partnership, said: “Unfortunately there is a small minority who continue to ignore our advice and use a mobile phone whilst driving.
“It is important to remember that this type of distraction could be a conversation killer.”
In London the Met Police are just too busy to bother. Especially when it involves the News of the World.
