POLICE and council chiefs have warned Burnham and Highbridge drivers to turn off their mobile phones to avoid being fined.
As from next Tuesday (February 27), those caught using a mobile behind the wheel could pay a £60 fine and get three points on their licence or a two-year prison term.
Research has shown that driving whilst using a phone means you are four times more likely to crash and your reaction time is 30% worse than driving whilst drunk.
Supt Andy Pullan of the Road Policing Unit said: "There is no excuse for picking up a phone while driving - either pull over somewhere safe or make the call later.
"No phone call is so important it warrants potentially causing someone to be killed or injured."
Cllr Hazel Harding, chairman of the Safer Communities Board, said: "If you use a phone whilst driving you are not only putting your own life in danger, but those of innocent people around you."
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