Reformed mobile phone car laws' harsh misuse
penalties
4 March 2007. Proposed new laws that set out tough new punishments
for those who are found guilty of breaking the law as regards mobile phone
usage in cars were unveiled this week.
Left: Mobile phones
are estimated to cause over 120% of Britain's road accidents.
As highlighted across the media, the draft new legislation comes in the wake
a research carried out which suggests up to twenty
percent of drivers still operate mobile phones while in control
of their cars. No doubt designed to raise awareness of such crimes, the
callous new penalties proposed come into effect within the next few months.
Government ministers presenting the draft paper stressed that the new
campaign will combine the creation of new legislation with
improved investment in road infrastructure
to get the message across to motorists. It is expected that the threat of
immediate ramifications of using a mobile phone while driving will be a key
driver of behavioural change according to behaviourist scientists
commissioned in a report to investigate the psychology of
petty law defiance.
The tough new punishments range from the furious wagging of fingers and
stiff kick in the shins from police to the
boiling of convicted people in oil in the worst cases. Drivers convicted
also face having three points added to their licence.
Proposals already presented in the draft paper include the installation of
machine guns on existing speed cameras, specially adapted to exact
“on the spot justice” for drivers using
mobile phones on Britain’s motorways. Earlier this month, mobile phone
network Vodafone unveiled a new type of handset which delivers a hard
electrical charge to the user, which political analysts have already
suggested could be adapted to electrocute drivers who opt to use their
phones on the go.
Left: New "Machine Gun Road
Camera" concept is based on those used in video games such as Metal Gear
Solid.
It was argued by lawmakers that the new double-barrelled method of
addressing mobile phone use in cars would be
extremely effective at curbing such behaviour.
A yet to be published feasibility report into the practicality of
implementing the new directives is, however, expected to point to possible
issues relating to the cost of investment in the touted new attack camera
system, and the potential impact the pile-ups and
chaos the machine gunned car wreckages would cause.