Court summons for mobile phone driving

[Onlyme234]

Hi all
I was caught sending a text on my phone in standstill traffic in March last year. Silly of me but a police officer was walking past and caught me. I got issued an FPN and received a letter in the post with a £200 fine and then details of how to surrender my license details online. I didn't realise that I also had to send off my license, fill out a form and send that off too. I honestly just didn't read the form properly.
I paid the fine and did it online but didn't send the form off. In September, I received a refund of the £200 and a court summons.
I'm due to go to court on the 23rd and was wondering if anybody had any advice?
I want to just go in and be super honest and say it was human error and I didn't read the form properly. Has anyone ever had this before and received more points or a larger fine?
Do they just reissue the same as on the FPN or am I at risk for more?
Any advice valued please

employment status has nothing to do with this

no.. not recordable the information given is incorrect

it is my understanding that simply touching the handset is the offence... its about being fully in control of your vehicle! if you are distracted by fiddling with it, you are not fully in control

Road safety is never a waste of police time. Using your phone while in charge of a car, even if stopped at traffic lights is illegal because it is dangerous.

You obviously haven't read the thread properly.

My response that you quoted was not directed at the OP, it was directed at someone trying to justify using a mobile 'phone while driving.

If you'd read the thread properly you would have seen that that I may have given the OP some of the more practical and helpful advice from the whole thread.

ie a link to, and quote from, the relevant part of the Magistrates' Sentencing Guidelines, and advice as to what to tell the court.

Whilst I don't think the OP should have the book thrown at them, drivers using their phones when stopped in traffic etc are more likely to cause an accident when traffic moves again. Eg, they may not have seen the bike coming up, movements of other cars or pedestrians while they were focused on their phone

Studies show it takes about 90 seconds to fully refocus on driving after checking your phone.

I hope you are ok after this thread? I'm generally pro drivers respecting the responsibility they accept when they get behind the wheel but some of the responses on here have been awful.

I'm a qualified solicitor and I make mistakes filling out forms too, we are all human, no matter what our job.

Knowing how hard student nurses work and study, and how demanding and important to society your job will be, I thank you and wish you all the best.

Did you not know it's illegal to text while in control of a car? Was that an administrative error too?

Well we had been stuck for 40mins and the traffic jam wasn’t moving and I saw multiple people texting or ringing their work, childminder etc to let them know that that they’re late.

I also saw people typing on their satnav trying to reroute it.

There was absolutely no chance of any accidents whilst my car was stationary.

Yes it was illegal and I don’t condone it but I’m not going to make OP feel bad like some other posters, when there was no chance of her hurting anyone and most of us have done it at some point.

If you haven’t done it, then you’ve obviously never been stuck in a traffic jam and had kids to pick up.

OP you’ve had some good advice here.

To everyone saying what’s the harm in texting in stationary traffic, I’ll tell you. As well as the studies showing it distracts even after you’ve used the phone, those sending a “quick text” quite often don’t realise the lights changes/cars started moving and rush to set off again and fail to check mirrors. I see it all the time on my bike. And have had several close calls as a result. Now as well as having to watch out for numpty drivers not signalling or left hooking me and potholes I also have to look inside cars to see if people are using phones in order to determine if they have seen me or not at junctions or slow moving traffic if I want to filter alongside and the answer is they probably haven’t cause they aren’t looking or paying attention.

Today a woman texting or scrolling in slow moving traffic came inches away from hitting my DH on his bike. he was in front of me, she was drifting so far to the left, inches away from him and he was pushed towards the kerb and a metal barrier. She was moving at maybe 5mph so he wouldn’t have been killed but likely hurt. She saw him at the very last second and oversteered to the right, clearly didn’t check that mirror which surprised the motorcyclist coming up on the right.
just don’t do it.

Phones have voice control so if you do need to contact someone use that. If your phone doesn’t have that you need to park up.

a PP said you can’t touch your phone or sat nav at all. You can. If it’s in a cradle or mounted on the dashboard. however it’s been proven that talking on hands free can be equally distracting it’s not actually illegal.

The device must not be in your hand. Even at the lights, even stationary for hours. Because as well as the distraction your hands aren’t free to be in control of the vehicle.

all there in the Highway Code. And police forces are cracking down on it because it’s endemic, it’s a huge concern and is a contributory factor in thousands of injuries and over 20 deaths in a year.

So I got a letter asking me whether I plead guilty or not guilty and then was asked to write a supporting letter. I explained my administrative error and gave evidence I'd paid the fine and apologised profusely in the letter I wrote. I've also been diagnosed with ADHD since I was a child so I'm wondering if declaring my diagnosis in court would help explain my admin error but I don't want to make excuses really when I should've just read the first letter properly. The letter they sent asked if i wanted to attend court and my mum advised it would be best I go as it shows I am willing to give up my time and shows remorse.
I feel so so silly and anxious

This is reassuring thank you

It's ok that people are angry. Thank you to those who have defended me but I did make a bad choice and I've been rightfully caught out. I just wanted to know what would be the best way to go about it in court. I plan to be incredibly apologetic (as I am) and be 100% honest.
I also haven't disclosed my ADHD diagnosis but my mums said it might be good to bring up because it's classed as a disability. To me that feels like making excuses though. Would it help my case at all?

And I mean bring up my adhd as something which contributed to me not reading the form properly, not me sending a text

If you have ADHD, should you be driving even?

You are supposed to tell DVLA that you have ADHD. https://www.gov.uk/adhd-and-driving

Oh for fucks sake 🙄

Definitely not. I get distracted by squirrels and end up driving into lampposts constantly.

www.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/media/109514307/3-adhd-guide-driving.pdf

No you're not.

"You do not need to tell DVLA about your condition unless you think that it may affect your ability to drive safely."

"Should I disclose my ADHD to the DVLA?
In many countries, including the UK, there are no explicit guidelines or driving legislation
regarding ADHD or its treatment. However, if your ADHD impacts your ability to drive safely, you
must inform the DVLA. If you were to be involved in an accident without first notifying the DVLA
of your ADHD, you may be prosecuted/fined up to £1,000."

But she thinks that she should tell the court about her ADHD, so obviously it affects her driving, or she wouldn't want to mention it as in. "I have ADHD, so it's harder for me not to text in traffic".

So you say your ADHD means you can’t understand or follow written instructions properly? I hope you are not on duty when I’m in hospital and it’s time for the drug round. If that’s the truth, then state that in court. But seriously reconsider whether nursing - and driving - are for you. If that’s not the truth, don’t state it in court.

You’ve already proven why the law is there. You were so distracted by sending a text (and I imagine this was not the first time) that you didn’t even notice a copper coming toward you. Don’t make it worse for yourself by lying.

@Thegoatliesdownonbroadway I don't think you read my posts. I said that I would bring it up to support why I didn't read the form properly. It would be in no way related to the offence itself. My adhd didn't make me send a text to my dad to tell him when I would be home and should in no way be used to excuse it. If I was using it as an excuse for the offence then yes, I agree, I shouldn't be driving. But that's not what I'm saying.

Look I don't want to disclose my ADHD as it comes across as giving excuses for not reading a form properly. I'm only asking if others think it'd help my case at all because my mum said it would.