Phone-hooked drivers face licence suspension in France

Insurance companies are joining the litany of voices against texting and driving. (Dreamstime)

PARIS: Drivers caught swapping texts or chatting on their phones at the wheel risk having their licences suspended under new road safety rules in France, where the government is under pressure to halt a rise in road deaths. 

The crackdown, defended on the grounds that drivers are four times more likely to crash if toying with hand-held devices, was one of several measures announced by the government on Tuesday, along with a lowering of speed limits.