We’ve all done it… a cheeky check of the phone whilst stuck in traffic; a quick call at the traffic lights. That’s ok isn’t it, because you’re not actually driving? Well, no! Since 1st March 2017 it’s illegal to use a hand-held phone whilst in charge of a vehicle and getting caught means:
- 6 penalty points
- a £200 fine (up to £2500 if you drive a lorry)
- a potential court appearance
- loss of licence
- driving ban
For your business, this is likely to mean Game-Over.
It’s been socially unacceptable for a while now to make or receive a call whilst driving – but what a lot of people don’t know is that this extends to handling your phone in any way whilst in charge of a vehicle. We’ve all seen the stories in the news about accidents caused by using a phone behind the wheel. None of us want to be the cause of an accident or worse. Would you want your phone log to show you were talking or texting at the time of an accident?
Because of the current media interest in ‘death-by-texting’ you could almost guarantee your details would be splashed across the media should the worst happen.
Don’t fall into stereotype
Isn’t it usually ‘white van man’ we see racing around with one hand on the wheel and phone clamped to ear? With your company livery all over your vehicle you’re doing yourself no favours by advertising yourself as irresponsible.
Utilise a call answering service
Risking your reputation, business and income is unnecessary especially when there is an easy solution to consider – a call answering service. Pocket Receptionist is one such service whereby another human being can answer your calls and take messages on your behalf. Currently, if you’re driving and your phone rings you have two choices – answer and accept all the possible risks that go with that or ignore the call and lose a potential customer. Having Pocket Receptionist answer your calls means you don’t have to worry about the law and you don’t have to worry about losing business either.
Local tradesman Tony Bigdrill uses Pocket Receptionist and says ‘my wife told me to sign up for Pocket Receptionist after a little bit of investigation showed I was losing business by not answering my phone. I don’t answer my phone when driving and I don’t answer my phone if I’m doing a quote. And you can guarantee those are the times when the phone will ring. Now, my calls are answered for me and I get messages sent to me straight away. Most customers get a call back within the hour and are delighted to have someone make an effort to return their call’.
The RAC have started a twitter campaign #BePhoneSmart which is supported by many safety groups and has lots of useful information about road safety and phone safety. There are pledges made by groups, organisations and individuals promising to make British roads safer. Why wouldn’t you?
