MOTORISTS are being warned that they face six points on their licence and a £200 fine if they are caught using their mobile phone at the wheel.

From today, new and tougher penalties — twice as much as before — come into force.

Previously, drivers caught faced three points and a £100 fine.

And the new legislation also means newly qualified drivers may have their licence revoked on the first offence under the New Driver Act.

The move has been welcomed by an Advanced Drivers’ Association which welcomed the move.

Chairman of the organisation, Roy Sammons said: “This new legislation is necessary. Everybody understands the risks of using a mobile phone whilst driving, hand held or hands free.

“Of course the legislation applies to hand held mobile phones. If we are to believe the statistics, phones are being used not for making calls, but for other things such as for social media.

“The use of phones while driving is a concern for this organisation and other professional organisations. But enforcement is another matter, police do not have the manpower, unless there is a campaign.

 “People will think that they will be able to carrying on doing what they do, thinking they will not get caught.

“But they have to realise that during a two-second glance at the phone the car has travelled quite a distance, the driver won’t see the child run across the road, the car ahead.”

Mr Sammons said that unless people recognised their responsibilities while driving there was a strong argument for exploring new technology which would not allow phones to be used while the car was moving.

He added that the driving course provided by the organisation had a strong focus on making motorists aware of the hazards facing them and reaction times.

Mr Sammons said: “We need using mobile phones to become as anti-social as drink-driving.”

 “The safest option is to switch your phone off before driving. If you do leave it switched on, keep it out of reach and, if it rings, find a safe and legal place to stop and call back.

“It’s not worth risking your and other people’s lives — and your livelihood — to use the phone while driving.”

Tomasz Kroker, a lorry driver killed four people  when he crashed while changing music on his phone on the A34 near Oxford. 

What do you think about the New Drivers Act? Is it an important piece of legislation or is it completely unnecessary?