Next time you're behind the wheel, think twice about using your cellphone. Under the revised Road Traffic Law that took effect Monday, cellphone-using motorists face a fine of up to 50,000 yen.

The revised law aims to stop drivers from placing and receiving phone calls or even glancing at cellular e-mails.

Until now, the law could only penalize drivers whose use of cellphones resulted in accidents and other dangerous consequences.

Police wasted no time in enforcing the law. In Osaka's Nanba, five drivers were ticketed in about two hours.

One taxi driver didn't even bother to stop talking on his cellphone when police officers demanded he turn it off.

``I thought, `Oops, they got me!''' he said. ``But I couldn't stop talking because it was from one of my customers.''(IHT/Asahi: November 2,2004)