Yes, it is NOT illegal. In fact, I am not aware of it being illegal in any country - but may well have someone correct me on that.
What is surprising is that it is okay to hold your phone in Sweden (perhaps the only EU member state to allow it?) which is amazing for a country so obsessed with safety. I presume they also work on the basis that they have other laws that cover it (equivalent to driving without due care).
One of my first big features for the magazine I worked at in the early 2000s was about the new law, which involved me going out taking photos of people using mobiles (very easy - in just an hour or two I got hundreds of photos, plus very nearly a lamping from a van driver), speaking to Rospa, the police and other groups. Unfortunately it isn't online anywhere, but it clearly explained the laws and the belief that a lack of enforcement would make it pointless - as is pretty much the case now.
What is surprising is that it is okay to hold your phone in Sweden (perhaps the only EU member state to allow it?) which is amazing for a country so obsessed with safety. I presume they also work on the basis that they have other laws that cover it (equivalent to driving without due care).
One of my first big features for the magazine I worked at in the early 2000s was about the new law, which involved me going out taking photos of people using mobiles (very easy - in just an hour or two I got hundreds of photos, plus very nearly a lamping from a van driver), speaking to Rospa, the police and other groups. Unfortunately it isn't online anywhere, but it clearly explained the laws and the belief that a lack of enforcement would make it pointless - as is pretty much the case now.