EIGHT years on, why are so many people still blatantly ignoring the law and using their hand-held mobile phones at the wheel?

Let’s first remind ourselves of what these people are doing wrong.

‘Failure to have proper control of vehicle or full view of the road and traffic ahead or using a hand-held mobile phone while driving.’ That’s clear then.

The penalty? A maximum of £1,000 fine, rising to £2,500 is you’re driving a PCV (passenger carrying vehicle) or a goods vehicle.

Can you go to prison? It’s discretionary, but yes you can. And you can certainly expect three points on your licence.

The good news in Dorset is that the No Excuses campaign has prompted an 18 per cent reduction in the number of road casualties. The bad news is that the message about not using mobile phones simply isn’t getting through, with 16 per cent of the tickets issued catching these culprits.

At the introduction of the legislation in 2003, ignorance may have been bliss, but it was also expensive as a lack of awareness of the new rules became the most popular excuse.

Whether cynics think it’s a handy revenue earner or not, there’s No Excuse for ignoring this law, because so many of us know it’s stupid to be talking on the phone while in control of half a ton of speeding metal.

We can huff and puff all we want, but it is a law specifically created to save lives.