It has been illegal to use a hand held mobile phone when driving since 2003, but we still see people ignoring the law on a daily basis. The law as it stands is largely unenforceable and when people are caught the penalties aren't severe enough to stop repeat offenders so I think it's time for a change of tack.

Surely we have the technology to make phones unusable while in a vehicle, it can't be beyond our capabilities to have a signal disabler of some description fitted as an integral part of the electrical circuitry of vehicles. Even using bluetooth hands free systems is distractive when driving so I think the design of current units should be changed by replacing phone keypads with a simple two button system. If you receive a call whilst driving, you can answer the caller by pressing one button and end the call by pressing another. In other words, nobody would be able to make a call without stopping the vehicle and physically removing your phone from the vehicle.

I had a blutooth unit fitted in my last car and they are far from perfect when making outgoing calls. They can store hundreds of numbers but you still need to scroll through them to find the number you want to call. This is far too distracting when driving and takes your eyes off the road for extended periods of time, in fact they are no less distracting than paging through on a phone handset. Far better in my opinion to have a single button in a logical position where it will become as easy to reach as indicator/wiper switches, in that way there is no need to take your eyes off the road to use it.