Handsfree mobile phones should be BANNED, says top celeb motoring lawyer Mr Loophole
ONE of Britain's top motoring lawyers is calling for handsfree devices to be outlawed - despite earning his living defending A-list celebrities caught using their mobiles at the wheel.
Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole for his ability to find legal technicalities to acquit his star clients, said using handsfree devices while driving is a “menace” to road safety.
Freeman has defended a long list of celebs after they were caught playing with their phones behind the wheel, including comedians Jimmy Carr and Paddy McGuinness.
Mr Loophole worked his magic in Carr's case by convincing the court his client wasn't making a call, but rather that the comedian was using the phone as an interactive device to record a joke.
Now the highest profile solicitor in the country, who has also worked with David Beckham and Charlotte Crosby, could be sacrificing his major celebrity meal tickets after calling for a ban all handsfree devices in Britain.
Speaking at a charity lunch in Manchester, Freeman said: “It is time the Government acted to put an end to the menace of handsfree.
“Everyone thinks that if you're using a phone and you're handsfree then you are fine and dandy but it is a major cause of distraction.
“Research shows it falls just below the level at which you’re permitted to drink and drive which means the chances of having an accident using hands free increases four fold.
“That’s why any form of use of a phone when driving, except for an emergency, should be banned. The stakes are just too high.”
Freeman was accused of being hypocritical in his latest statement, considering he has made such a successful living finding reasons for A-listers to get out of punishment for the same offence.
But the Cheshire-based solicitor noted that his job was simply to defend his clients, not approve their actions.
He said: “Of course I will continue to defend all my clients to the best of my ability.
“I admit banning handsfree phones won't stop everyone using them and those who are accused of such offences will obviously be entitled to a defence.
"But I would argue that if handsfree were outlawed it will stigmatise the practise, dramatically cut down usage and so reduce the number of accidents and fatalities that arise as a consequence.”
The road laws you need to know
It has been illegal to touch a mobile phone, even with a handsfree set, while driving since 2003, while penalties were raised in March last year to include six points on the offender’s licence and a £200 fine.
Mounting research suggests that, although legal, driving and using a mobile handsfree - either on speaker phone or with Bluetooth technology that connects a phone wirelessly to a microphone or headset - is just as dangerous as a hand-held phone.
In 2016 psychologists at the University of Sussex found driving while talking on a handsfree phone can be just as distracting as talking on a hand-held mobile.