WhatsApping while driving will lose you SIX POINTS from licence, under new DGT plans

WHATSAPP messaging while behind the wheel will soon see drivers lose six points from their licences.

The new measures by Spain’s Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) will ramp up penalties against ‘distractions’, which include WhatsApping, speaking with your phone in one hand, touching your car’s navigator, opening a drink or lighting a cigarette.

The new rules come as distractions have superseded speeding and drunk-driving as the leading cause of traffic accidents in Spain.

The changes are planned to soon become part of Spain’s road safety laws, according to a statement by Fernando Grande-Marlaska, acting Minister of the Interior.

Twelve helicopters have been deployed this summer to catch out drivers on their mobile phones.

They accompany 11 drones, 216 high-definition cameras and camouflaged vehicles from the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil – all dedicated to catch out distracted drivers.

The Guardia Civil has deployed 300 more agents this summer, adding to their 9,100 existing traffic agents, to carry out a predicted 900,000 breath tests over July and August.

READ MORE: HEADS UP: Spain’s traffic cops using drones to catch driving offenders on Costa del Sol from TOMORROW