Making a legal call: Are we driving Jersey’s car phone legislation too far?

That said, it’s important to stress that I wholeheartedly approve of the fact that it’s unlawful to hold a mobile phone while driving. I approve also of the stance taken by Magistrate Bridget Shaw in suspending the licences of drivers who, because they’d already been dealt with by Centeniers at parish halls for the offence, effectively decided that the law really didn’t apply to them and had treated it with contempt.

But, the latest measure advocated by campaigner Paul Newman – to make it an offence to hold a mobile phone while a vehicle’s ignition is switched on – is surely a step too far and may well dilute the considerable public support and sympathy he currently enjoys.

Most drivers I’ve spoken to on this issue share my view that making it an offence – and in doing so telling motorists they run the risk of losing their licences (and in many cases with it their jobs) – to pull in to the side of the road or a layby to safely use their phone unless they also switch off the ignition is a measure which is unlikely to save anyone from death or injury; something which surely is the raison d’être of this sort of legislation.

While I pull back from describing Mr Newman’s latest call for further legislation as placing him in danger of becoming obsessive, I do think that he should consider that he has already achieved a great deal – and the plaudits of the public – so perhaps he should now contemplate quitting while he’s ahead.

MANY years ago I used to get into terrible trouble with a very good friend because I indulged in a bit of light-hearted mickey-taking about Alderney – a place which happened to be very close to his heart and where he would spend most, if not all, of his holidays. In his customary courteous fashion he would gently chide me for saying things like Alderney is simply two thousand alcoholics clinging to a rock where the biggest export is empty bottles and the place regularly wins medals at the Island Games in the drinking competitions. As he used to remark, many Alderney people get dreadfully upset when they read things like that.

Sadly that friend is no longer with us, but I actually stopped taking the mickey long before his untimely death – principally because I found that making Guernsey the butt of my banter was a good deal easier, if only because most of the jokes about that place and its donkey population write themselves.

Alderney sprang to mind last week with the news that they came within an ace – well, a goal – of giving the Jersey Muratti side the fright of their lives by only losing by a single goal in the competition’s semi-final. Despite my ancestry and the fact that I am an extremely proud crapaud who happens to think that we don’t ‘fly the flag’ anywhere frequently enough, I would have loved it if the northern isle could have managed to poke in a couple of flukey goals to win the match, or even just the one to get a draw and perhaps force a replay.

Those thinkers and drinkers down at the pub who follow local football with a good deal more enthusiasm than I do – something that’s not that difficult, it must be said – tell me that a result going Alderney’s way would have done a power of good to Channel Islands soccer. Still, there’s always the hope that such a minor miracle might happen next year when the Muratti semi-final will be between Guernsey and Alderney. As one of the old lads remarked: ‘If we want that then we’d better get the mats out now and start praying fervently.’

AND finally…Cynical old crapaud I may well be, but I found the interview with Emma Cotillard – the young mother whose husband became terminally ill while they were on their honeymoon – was both moving and stimulating, as well as being courageous also. Her idea of forming a group to help young widows and widowers to give them practical and emotional support is one of the most heart-warming projects I have heard about in years. It goes without saying that everyone wishes them well.