Motorists who use phone apps to navigate the roads are warned of tough new penalties, including £200 fines A clampdown on motorists using phones to call and text that began in April also extends to using mobiles as satnavs. Though it is not illegal to run a navigation app while driving, motorists can face prosecution if they touch the device while at the wheel. Drivers who have held their licence for less than two years can be disqualified, while the maximum penalty has doubled to £200 and six points for more experienced road-users. A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs Council said: ‘If an officer determines that a driver using their satnav hindered their ability to control the car, the driver could face prosecution.’ These warnings expose inconsistencies between the more lenient penalties for using a traditional or built-in satnav and the harsher punishments involving mobile phone use. In April a report published by comparison website uSwitch found Britian had become a nation of ‘satnav junkies’, causing many motorists to drive dangerously. One in 20 drivers gets a speeding fine because of their ‘addiction’ to satnavs which show the wrong speed limit, according to the study. Motorists’ over-reliance on the devices led nearly one in five of drivers to drive ‘dangerously’. Drivers said ‘incorrect directions’ had caused them to make a U-turn or to drive the wrong way down a one way street. And around one in six of motorists say their satnav has given them the wrong speed limit while out on the road. Meanwhile a survey for Post Office Money in 2015 found 7million adults in Britain have never used a roadmap and 2.5million of these would not know how to use one. Cont…