New driving laws: How child booster seat and mobile phone rules change this month
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Version 0 of 1. Tougher laws on driving - surrounding the use of mobile phones and child booster seats - are being introduced today. Points issued for people caught using their phones at the wheel are doubling to six, meaning drivers are more likely to have their licence revoked, and children now have to weigh more than 22kg if they are to use a backless booster seat. The changes are among a raft of legislation coming into force this year, including the minimum wage for over-25s is going up to £7.50, a new levy to encourage apprenticeships being drafted in, and small branded cigarette packets being banned. Using a phone at the wheel Drivers will receive six points on their licence, instead of three, if caught using their phone, or any “internet device”, at the wheel. Motorists can also be hit with fines of £200, up from £100. New drivers can have their licence revoked if they accrue six penalty points during their first two years on the road. Twenty-two people were killed and 99 seriously injured in accidents on Britain's roads in 2015 where a motorist using a mobile was a contributory factor, latest figures show. Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker was jailed for 10 years in October after killing a woman and three children by ploughing into their stationary car while distracted by his phone. Child car seats Under the new rules, backless child booster seats will only be approved for children taller than 125cm and weighing more than 22kg. Data obtained by Confused.com revealed only 13 per cent of parents understood the new rules. The comparison site's motoring editor last month said the Government needed to simplify the message. |