Motorists taking to the roads this May Bank Holiday Weekend are being advised by AA Roadwatch to remember the new laws relating to mobile phone use while driving.

"We welcome the new law" says Arwen Foley of AA Roadwatch. "It's very simple really; you should never ever text while driving, whether your phone is in hour hand, on your lap or in a hands-free cradle."

The new regulations which came into effect this week make it an offence to send or read a text message, multimedia message or email whilst driving. Before now, the legislation only applied to mobile phones that were being held or rested against a part of your body but this now covers mobile phones that are 'hands-free'. "This will make it even easier for Gardaí to catch offenders this Bank Holiday Weekend" says Arwen. "Road deaths has unfortunately become commonplace for us in AA Roadwatch. We've been hearing more and more stories about drivers Tweeting or updating their Facebook status instead of looking at the road."

While this new law doesn't specifically cover Tweeting or use of other forms of social media, it is still an offence to drive dangerously. If updating your social media distracts you from the road then Gardaí have the power to pull you over. "Just the other day we posted an article to our own Facebook page about a young woman in North Carolina who died after taking a 'selfie' whilst driving. It's really frightening that this is becoming more frequent" says Arwen. "Irish people seem to have an infatuation with their Smart Devices, particularly mobile phones but using them in any way will distract you from the road ahead."

"We have a busy weekend ahead of us" advises Arwen. "We can only hope that it will be a safe one for all motorists."