UK to close loophole and prevent all handheld phone use while driving

The UK government will change the law next year to ensure all handheld use of a mobile phone while driving is banned. 

Under current law, making phone calls and sending text messages while holding a phone are prohibited, but many of the other functions carried out on modern smartphones are not. 

The new legal change, expected next year, will close the loophole, but will still allow hands-free use of phones.  

Research has shown that hands-free use of phones can be as distracting as using them handheld – so it is not clear what difference the change will make to crash statistics.