The laws against using mobile phones while driving have been with us now for long enough that few people can claim ignorance of them.

But as our spot-check of just one busy junction in central Bradford shows, motorists are still failing to take heed of the rules.

This is not just a law designed to make life difficult for people, as many offenders evidently believe. It is there to help prevent deaths on our roads.

Most people who get behind the wheel of a car are confident about their abilities, and doubtless many drivers have told themselves that they are quite capable of taking a quick call on their mobile and still drive safely.

They are wrong. Any distractions that winnow away your concentration on the traffic around you or pedestrians by the roadside can only be detrimental to even the best driver. In a week when a campaign has been launched to crack down on road accidents caused by distraction, the message must be driven home more forcefully than ever before.

Our snapshot of drivers using their mobiles was taken on the Jacob’s Well roundabout, where there are no longer traffic lights in operation and which is one of the busiest junctions in the city centre. In short, it is a place where motorists should be taking more care, not brazenly letting their concentration slip by using their mobile phones.

There can be few calls that are so urgent that they need to be made while in control of a moving vehicle. Even if it is a matter of life and death, pull over before you take or make that call. Because driving while on the phone might make it a matter of life and death for you or someone else, and there can be no excuse for that.