Have you joined the #drivingselfie
craze? When the heads of states are at it, at Mandela's funeral no-less, and then the mass hysteria that followed Ellen's famous Oscars "selfie", it is no surprise that the craze has spread to the UK!
Well before you think about taking a quick "selfie" behind the wheel – think again!
It has been reported today by research conducted by confused.com that 1
in 14 motorists (7% of drivers) have taken a shameless "selfie" whilst driving.
The most common culprits being those aged between 18-24 years with 1 in 10
admitting to using Snapchat whilst driving. With the recent launch of Snapchat
it has become common place to send your friends, family and in fact anyone on
your contact list the most random photos you can find. Most will think this is
harmless fun without even thinking of the implications and risks this may cause
to themselves and other road users. In fact, you will also be breaking the law!
Taking your eyes and hands off
the wheel for even a split second could result in an accident. It has been
found that 1 in 10 motorists who have used their mobile phone whilst driving have
had an accident as a result. In our experience, when the police are investigate any serious collision, they immediately seize mobile phones, laptops and iPads to check whether or not they were in use during the course of the journey. A serious accident combined with mobile phone use will almost certainly result in a charge of dangerous driving which carries a possible 2 year prison sentence.
If you are caught mid-pose by the
police you could be issued an on the spot fine and 3 penalty points for what
they will say is “not being in proper control of your motor vehicle” or usingyour mobile phone whilst driving, which last year the police issued 118,000 of
these out. In the more serious circumstances the police could charge you with
careless driving which could result in a 3-9 penalty points, a disqualification
and a hefty fine.
If you are someone who likes to keep
up with the trends and send quirky selfies to your friends then don’t let this
killjoy deter you! By all means, keep taking selfies, even whilst you are in your
car, as long as it’s parked up with the engine off that is!
Guest Blog by Vicky Miller
No comments:
Post a Comment