Using your mobile phone whilst driving is an offence which collects a fine and three penalty points; at the Bill Plant Driving School we believe that doing so makes the user more dangerous than those who might collect points for being caught by camera a few MPH over the speed limit. The major insurer Allianz wholehearted agrees with us, describing the act as a dangerous and needless act, that they as an insurer intend to penalise, by increasing their premiums.

It is now more than a year since the tougher penalties for hand-held mobile phone use were introduced, but amazingly the Department for Transport report that 185,000 drivers were caught using hand held phones in 2007. Hands free or Bluetooth systems have to be the way forward, when you can tell the caller that you are driving and will find a safe place to pull over and call back without putting yourself and other road users at risk.

A valuable reminder comes in the UK News today when a motorist was given a custodial sentence for killing a cyclist whilst driving and usiing a mobile phone to text. The four year prison sentence was given to a 25 yold woman in the UK after a girl suffered a fatal head injury.

The woman was also driving at 45mph in a 30 mph zone.  The advice from Bill Plant is to simply not use a mobile phone if you are in the car at all. Remember that driving safety should always be remembered when using your motor vehicle.

The adding of penalty points to a driver’s licence is designed to act as a deterrent and make us all think about how we drive or park our motor vehicles. The usual imposition is three penalty points for an offence, but this can be more depending upon the offence. An example of this is three points for each defective tyre, so two tyres means six points and if you are stupid enough to have four defective tyres, you no longer have a valid licence!

That’s right, twelve points and you lose your right to drive a motor vehicle. However, how many people are aware that a new driver is on probation for two years following the passing of the practical and theoretical driving test. If during this period a new driver collects only six penalty points, and we can see that this is not difficult, they lose their licence and have to retake both parts of the driving test and be accompanied by a qualified driver at all times. Remember under new legislation exceeding a 30 mile per hour speed limit by 15 miles per hour brings with it a new penalty point imposition of six points.

On Sunday night a pensioner was stopped by police after driving the wrong way up the M6. Fortunately there was no serious injury caused by this incident. The woman who was 82 may now face a charge of dangerous driving after travelling at speeds of up to 70mph in the wrong direction up the motorway.

We should all remember this lesson in motorway driving.

Did you know that failing to stop after an accident could get you between 5-10 penalty points and a fine up to £5,000 ? With possible disqualification?

We endorse safe and responsible driving here at Bill Plant. A driving school is responsible  for teaching you the potential penalties that you are likely to face should you ignore the UK Driving Laws.

Here are some safe driving tips and others to make sure you are not breaking the law:

• Don’t drink and drive
• Make sure you have the correct documents for your vehicle- Insurance certificate, Mot, Tax
• A  Driving Licence penalty points for not having one could be 3-6 with disqualification possible and a fine up to £1,000
• Don’t Speed - Once you pass your driving test don’t be tempted to speed, exceeding the speed limit means a potential fine of up to £2,500 and 3-6 penalty points.