SO THE Government is supposedly making £1 million every month from motorists who are fined for using their mobile phones at the wheel.

Big figures, it has to be said, but should we be surprised, shocked or even sympathetic?

Of course not, for when the statistics for local drivers nabbed first came out, those receiving fines for using a mobile phone while driving hardly took the breath away and indeed, at the time, we said it was surely the message that is more important than the revenue.

At the introduction of the legislation, ignorance may have been bliss, but it was also expensive as a lack of awareness of the new rules became a popular excuse.

Or more pointedly an ignorance borne out of a belief that rules are there to be broken and, besides, the long arm of the law can't possibly be so stretchy when the heat dies down and the culprits can relax while calling and texting behind the wheel.

Clearly, whether you think it's a handy revenue earner or not, there can surely be no excuse for ignoring this law, simply because so many of us know it's stupid to be talking on the phone while in control of half a ton of speeding metal.

We can huff and puff all we want, but it is a law specifically created to save lives.

Having said that, when the police assure us they are not here to annoy and upset people', nailing a few people crawling along in traffic jams or even stationary with the engine running might have been the letter of the law, but perhaps not the spirit.

But here's a bit of feminine logic. For the first time in a very long time, I ignored a phone call that set off my mobile lying on the passenger seat next to me.

It was from my wife... reminding me not to use my phone in the car.