UK companies to face fines on staff car-mobile usage

Link: Bosses to face fines for staff caught chatting on phone in car | the Daily Mail.
This is an interesting one that Paul at NTS caught today:

Firms could be prosecuted for allowing employees to use hand-held mobile phones while driving in the latest crackdown on motorists In a pilot scheme, company bosses will receive a visit from police if any of their workers are caught.
They will then be quizzed about what they intend to do to curb the illegal driving.
Firms that consistently refuse to bring employees into line face prosecution and potentially unlimited fines under health and safety laws.

So, it’s illegal in the UK to use your mobile phone while driving. From memory, you need to have a hands-free headset and the phone has to be ‘fixed’ to the dashboard somewhere. I think this is a sensible law. When I was in a taxi on the way to the airport last week, I was horrified that the driver was using his left hand and knees to steer the car whilst he chatted to someone on his mobile!

I think the proposed strategy could be quite successful. It has a serious underlying point though:

If the use of a phone for a workrelated call leads to a crash, separate charges of individual or corporate manslaughter can be levied against the company and named individuals.

Excellent. I would hope that this ‘company-down’ policy could well be quite effective in encouraging people to use hands-free headsets.