Drivers have been warned not to respond to an emergency test alert while driving next Sunday.
Emergency Alerts is a UK government service that will warn you if there’s a danger to life nearby. In an emergency, your mobile phone or tablet will receive an alert with advice about how to stay safe.
You may get alerts about severe flooding, fires and extreme weather sent by the emergency services, government departments, agencies and public bodies that deal with emergencies.
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The alert will make a loud siren-like sound, even if it’s set on silent, vibrate and read out the alert. The sound and vibration will last for about 10 seconds.
On Sunday, April 23 at 3pm people in the UK will receive a test alert. For the test, you do not need to take any action - the sound and vibration will stop automatically after ten seconds.
All you need to do is swipe away the message or click ‘OK’ on their phone’s home screen. However, James Armstrong of car insurance provider Veygo has urged drivers not to switch the alert off while behind the wheel, as they would be breaking the law, reports the Daily Record.
James explains that the notification requires you to switch it off manually, touching your phone could put you in violation of rule 149 of the Highway Code.
The rule states that it's illegal to use a hand-held device such as a phone or sat-nav while driving and could see a motorist hit with a £200 fine and up to six penalty points. Drivers could potentially even be taken to court and banned from driving or fined up to £1,000.
Government advice states that if you are driving when you get an alert, you should not read or otherwise respond. If you are driving, you should continue to drive and not respond to the noise or attempt to pick up the mobile phone and deal with the message.
Find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message. If you're planning a journey in your car on April 23 and are concerned that the alert might prove a distraction from the road, you can opt-out. To opt-out, search for 'emergency alerts' in your settings and turn off 'severe alerts' or 'extreme alerts'.
You must do this before you get behind the wheel. However, it’s advisable to keep them on for your own safety.
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