Too many deaths and injuries occur while mobile phones are being held. Tougher new laws will come into force in a further severe action on using a mobile phone behind the wheel from next year.

It is already illegal to text or make a phone call, other than in an emergency, using a hand-held device while driving. From 2022, laws will go further to ban drivers from using their phones to take photos or videos, or play games. This will mean anyone caught using their hand-held device while driving will face a fixed penalty notice and six points on their license. Drivers will still be able to continue using a device “hands-free” while driving, if it’s secured in a cradle (支架).

The government will also revise The Highway Code to explain the new measures. It will also be more precise about some facts, making it clear that hand-held mobile phone use at traffic lights or in motorway jams is illegal except in very limited circumstances.

There will be an exemption (豁免) to the new law for drivers making a contactless payment using their mobile phone. This will cover, for example, places like a drive-through restaurant or a road toll, and will only apply when payment is being made with a card reader. Anyway, it will not allow drivers to make general online payments while driving.

Mary Williams, chief executive of Brake — the road safety charity, said, “If drivers take their attention away from driving, this can be deadly. Using a hand-held phone at the wheel is never worth the risk. This important road safety decision by government, along with Road Safety Week, is very welcomed. The theme for Road Safety Week is road safety heroes — we can all be road safety heroes by giving driving our full attention.”

At times we all get angry when we are driving. It might be because we are stuck in a traffic jam or stuck behind a very slow driver. t might be because we think another driver has done something very stupid and dangerous. Whatever the reason, it seems that getting angry in a car is something which happens more and more often and there is now a special term for it: "road rage". Some experts even think that road rage is a kind of mental illness! How can we recognize this   "illness" of road rage?

There are two kinds of road rage: aggressive driving and aggressive reactions to the way other people are driving. Aggressive driving can take different forms:

●Driving much faster than the speed limit.

●Increasing your speed very quickly.

●Driving very close behind the car in front and sounding the horn or flashing the headlights.

●Changing lanes very suddenly and blocking another car.

●Moving into a parking space where another ear is trying to park.

There are also different reactions to the way other people are driving. These include:

●Making rude signs at people.

●Shouting at people and threatening them.

●Deliberately driving into another person's car.

●Hitting somebody.

●Using a weapon such as a baseball bat, or even a gun or a knife.

Road rage is certainly not a joke. There have been incidents of road rage which have led to serious injuries and even murder. Experts think that one reason for road rage is that films show a lot of examples of fast and aggressive driving such as car chases where this kind of driving seems to he positive.

Experts also think that the punishments for dangerous driving are not serious enough. Experience shows that driving problems can be controlled，but it takes a long time. In the UK in the last 30 years，the police have been quite successful in reducing the number of people who drink and drive. They are now working to stop people using mobile phones when they are driving. Let's hope they can have the same success with road rage.

It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter.

Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving．On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough．Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it．

However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous．Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may be not able to stop in time．The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.

An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship. Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users．It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart．