KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
the Internet. If the sat-nav does not access the Internet but instead uses GPS, then this may not be covered under the legislation and you may have grounds to dispute it.
New law: No. It is an offence to use a mobile telephone whilst driving. By changing the postcode on the sat-nav you were illuminating the screen and interacting with an applica- tion. Unfortunately you do not have a defence.
Q
925 MHz to 960 MHz, 1710 MHz to 1785 MHz, 1805 MHz to 1880 MHz, 1900 MHz to 1980 MHz or 2110 MHz to 2170 MHz.
4) Emergency calls
The law still provides that no offence is committed where a person makes a call to the emergency services on 999 or 112 in response to a genuine emergency, where it is unsafe or impracticable for them to cease driving whilst the call is made.
5) Supervising
It is still an offence to use a mobile telephone whilst super- vising a provisional licence holder.
IN SUMMARY
Under the new law, it will be an offence to use a hand-held phone, or other device capable of transmitting data, whilst driving a vehicle on a road or public highway.
There will be an exception for two-way radios.
There will be defences available where the defendant can advance they were calling the emergency services or making a contactless payment while stationary (but in accordance with the provisions above).
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN PRACTICE?
The best way to look at this is by applying it to questions that we have been asked and then apply the new and old laws.
Q
My phone had the sat-nav on when I picked it up to change the postcode. A police officer saw me and has issued me six points and a fine. Can I appeal?
Old law: Yes, but it depends on what frequency the sat-nav was working. It is only an offence to use a hand-held phone for communication functions, meaning that it must access
MARCH 2022
My phone was in a cradle and I received a text mes- sage. I opened it and read it, and I accept I was touching the screen. However I never picked it up.
The police officer said that was still an offence and has sum- moned me to court for driving whilst using a mobile telephone. Can you defend it?
Old law: Yes, it is only offence to use a phone whilst driving if it is handheld.
New law: Still yes, it is still only an offence to use a phone whilst driving it is if it is handheld (but don’t forget that if you are sending a text message whilst the phone is in a cra- dle you may be committing other offences).
Q
I was driving past a Starbucks order point to get a coffee. I paid using Apple Pay. A police officer has told me that is an offence. Is there anything I can do
to challenge it?
Old law: Unfortunately, it’s unlikely. Even though a coffee branch might allow you to pay by app, the law does not.
New Law: Yes, there is a defence to using a phone whilst driving if you can show that you were using it to make a con- tactless payment, that you received the goods at the same time and you were stationary. Please make sure that you keep any receipts or bank statements that you got from the time to prove exactly what you were doing.
Hopefully these examples will give you a good insight as to how the new law will apply. But one final point to consider – does the new law go far enough? Can it stand the test of time? In 2003 when the old legislation was written it was enacted before the introduction of the first smartphone and quickly became outdated. Will this happen again? By listing what a smartphone can do, is it too heavily focussed on current technologies? Where will the technology be heading next? All of these are questions that are yet to be answered.
If you need any advice on motoring matters or for regular updates on road traffic law, email
enquiries@pattersonlaw.co.uk or find us on Facebook or Twitter.
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