Your mobile phone is buzzing away in your pocket and you know that you shouldn’t check it..
But the lights are still red and no one’s moving. You’ll just check it quickly then stick it straight back in your pocket. It might be an important call.
You wiggle your iPhone out of your pocket and have a quick peep.
Then, right as you’re dropping it onto the passenger seat, you see the flashing blue lights and an officer waving you over to the side.
It’s a story we’ve heard a hundred times before. In fact, mobile phone offences are some of the most common we deal with. Checking your phone is an ingrained behaviour and people sometimes do it without thinking.
If you’ve been charged with using a mobile phone whilst driving, you’ve come to the right place. Everyone at Dominic Sellar & Co specialises in road traffic law and we’re standing by to help you.
To help you understand the charge you’re facing, we’ve created a helpsheet covering what to do now, what your options are and how to get help.
What Does The Law Say?
By law, you’re not allowed to use a hand held phone whilst being in traffic. Not whilst you’re driving, not when you’re waiting for a light to turn green. You can use a hands- free device, as long as it doesn’t affect your driving.
The precise details to are stated in Regulation 110 Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 and Section 41D Road Traffic Act 1988.
What’s Required For A Prosecution?
In order to secure a conviction, there are three elements that must be proven.
Often the prosecution will rely on the evidence of the police officers who stopped you, and it’ll be their word against yours. It can be tremendously hard to defend cases like this yourself, and we recommend you seek specialist legal advice.
Penalties
The penalty for using your phone whilst driving is 6 points and a fine or a fine and discretionary disqualification. If your driving has been careless or dangerous, then everything get’s a bit more complex. The penalties will increase significantly, and could result in disqualification.
Possible Defences
If you have used your mobile phone to call an emergency service, for a genuine emergency, it is a defence.
Most defences, however, are based around denial of the mobile phone being used. If this is the case, physical evidence such as phone records, locus inspections and photographic evidence will be cross- examined. If there are inconsistencies in the evidence, the prosecution can be undermined
What should you do next?
If you’ve been charged with using a mobile phone whilst driving, our specialist team is standing by to help.
Road traffic law is our expertise, and we will quickly be able to determine the merits of your case and what your options are.
We help you prepare your case, arrange for all supporting documents and evidence, and support you at court. For free, no- obligation advice contact our team today