On phone in stationary traffic

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NC for this. I'm wondering if any legal folk have advice or whether you all think IABU.

A few weeks ago I was stopped at traffic lights for some time in standstill traffic so I briefly picked up my phone to look at a message that had come through. I was on my own with my baby in the back. Suddenly I was aware of something to my right and when I turned, there was a man in a high vis jacket on a bicycle, stopped right next to my door, and bending down to stare at me through my window. He didn't engage, just stared straight at me for what felt like an age. His position meant that I couldn't get out of the car and it felt very intimidating. I didn't know what his intentions were, or what he'd do next.

He then cycled off ahead and stopped by the windows of one or two other drivers and did the same thing. I felt quite shaken by the experience.

I later learned that he either reported me or was an undercover policeman as he had filmed me on my phone with his helmet camera.

I have now received 6 points and a £200 fine. I accept that the law states that checking your phone including when stationary is an offence so I am not disputing that there should be a consequence.

However, I can't help but feel that 6 points is a disproportionate punishment given that I was stationary and not actually causing risk. If I was moving it would be a different matter but I was not driving without due care and attention, i was stationary with the break on.

Secondly, the method of capturing this footage - a man staring into a woman's car, on her own with a baby, and instilling fear and blocking her in surely is not acceptable?

Can I challenge any of this?

I was lucky that this happened to me before this law came in......when my daughter was at primary school I left work at 2.45 for a 3.15 pick up. Journey should be 20 minutes. Got stuck in a jam as a cyclist had been hit by a car and all routes closed. I had not moved at all for 20 minutes and a policeman knocked on my window and said he said to get off my phone - I was in tears and said my 5 year old was going to be waiting for me and I was frantically trying to arrange for someone to collect her. I had turned off the engine and put on the handbrake so essentially parked. Policeman was actually great, just said get out of the car and he would tell other cars to go round me until I had sorted it out. I got home at 7.30 and sadly the cyclist died. I now put my phone in my bag on do not disturb while driving.

I don't have an issue with what the cyclist did - you broke the law.

You feel that the punishment is excessive but presumably you had the option to present your case in court?. That was your opportunity to have your say.

How old are you? (Roughly!). I ask because I’m in my 60s and when I was a teen drink driving definitely wasn’t acceptable. I know more people did it then but it wasn’t acceptable.

Thank you to those who have offered balanced and considered responses. Many of you have given me food for thought.

And a big thanks to those who have offered solidarity against some of the shirtier replies 😂.

I think on balance maybe the fine and points is warranted although as some of you have pointed out, there are elements of the law that don't make sense i.e. I could have read that message on my car touch screen, whilst actually driving, and it would have been legal - and far more dangerous. And I could have been speeding but got less when stationary. But that's the law as so many of you have pointed out.

I still think the cyclist was an arsehole though. He could have communicated to me, one of you said the police or this Mikey bloke engages with the driver. Yes I was in a car that was lockable, but you don't think that straight when there's a stranger in that close proximity to you, with your baby in the back. I didn't know what he was doing, he could have been blocking my door to allow someone to get my baby out the back, all things go through your mind when you don't know what's going on.

The posts that are saying you can’t check your phone and it is risk free - you can make that decision and do whatever you want.

That decision has consequences and if a poor decision is made and someone is harmed or killed because of it, or the person is caught by the police, the consequences are yours to deal with. So you do have choices but you may not like the aftermath.

Blimey. You really don't trust yourself, do you!

Mine's just in my bag on the passenger seat/floor. All my family and friends know I don't answer calls or texts until I've finished my journey.

Actually that is pretty much how they do it during a sting operation - they aren't issuing fines on the spot as it slows them down and warns the other drivers ( assuming they look up from their phones for long enough to notice). They are just capturing the footage to process later.

I didn't know what he was doing, he could have been blocking my door to allow someone to get my baby out the back, all things go through your mind when you don't know what's going on.

If you had been paying attention to what was going on around you, you would have seen him cycling up to you.

If he asked you to wind down your window to talk to you would you have preferred that? That sounds even more intimidating.

I see it all the time. The whatsApp gap. Put it away FFS.

Agree. It was illegal under the 1967 road safety act.
Not wearing a seat belt was seen as acceptable, though. Neither of my parents wore one until it became a legal requirement in 1983.

I agree, in the boot is so unnecessarily dramatic “I cannot even be within arms reach of my phone, I must lock it in the boot or I’ll be unable to resist!”

It’s also much less use to you if you crash and could do with it being within reach.

Well no...
If I hadn't been on my phone he wouldn't have stopped, that would have been a better point to make.
If I had been on my phone but noticed him coming and then stopping, I still wouldn't haven't known what he was doing.

You were on your phone and hadn’t a clue what was happening around you.
That’s the point.

Fucking hell. You were on your phone whilst in control of you car. That is an offence. It does not matter about you noticing the cyclist or not. You were caught bang to rights.
If you do it again, say goodbye to your license.

Yeah look you did something and got caught. I doubt you will do it again.

He didn't engage because that could have put him at extra risk, had you got road rage. Maybe he thought you driving was dangerous which is why he pulled up along side you in the first place.

I put my phone in the glove box or in a bag after I have set up the navigation/music or whatever. I have seen and been on the reciveing end of too many people not paying attention when driving. It is a real risk that can cause serious harm and the blanket rule is the best one to avoid behaviour creep.

The bloke sounds like an utter prick. I agree with you OP. The law is as it is to make it simple to apply, but I agree there’s absolutely zero risk in doing what you did. So why this cyclist felt he should go around intimidating lone women when they are stationary I have no idea. Power trip - sounds like my idiot uncle who pulls similar power trip moves - I can tell you for a fact he does not do it because he really cares about safety!! A very nasty part of the surveillance society we all seem to have sleepwalked into.

You committed a crime and that is the punishment. It reads like you want to go down the intimidation route to get out of it when realistically this was probably a traffic cop who caught you in the act. How else would they do that if not outside your car looking in... they know folk do this at lights and will check (it's nothing unusual).

Bikes constantly block driver doors at lights. They're just there next to you, waiting to go. Are you always worried they might be doing it so someone else can kidnap your baby, or is it only when you're caught out doing something you shouldn't that these sorts of excuses come to mind?

It’s great that there are guys like this cyclist out there.

i have a black box that monitors my phone use. It’s quite annoying as my kids have been playing with my phone while I have been driving and the insurance company thinks it’s me. Who the hell would be so stupid as to touch their phone while driving???

Totally agree with everything you said but I worry about you keeping your phone in the boot. If you had an accident late at night on a country road and were stuck in your seat you could not call for help. Sounds like you have a sensible approach to the law so doubt you’ll touch it if you had it in reach in case of emergency

If you crashed and your wheels were still spinning, do you think it would be ok to use your phone then? Judging by some of the pious responses on this thread, I’m not sure it would be. ;)

My dad was once fined for using his phone in the car. He was waiting for an urgent call so he pulled over to answer it, assuming that would be ok. Unfortunately a police officer pulled in behind him and gave him a ticket because although he’d pulled over safely and the engine was off, his keys were still in the ignition and that meant he was technically ‘still in control of a vehicle’.

I’m fully in support of laws that keep us safe and prevent people from doing stupid things while driving but I also understand why people feel annoyed when a person is cycling round looking for people to report and to (presumably) boost their own income on YouTube.

Everyday we read articles about drivers killing others whilst on a phone. Phone use, even when stationary, is distracting. There have been incidents when drivers have been on their phones, put them down and drive off without looking and hitting someone. Own your mistake and learn from it.

You’re in the wrong. You aren’t even allowed to eat or drink anything either

The cyclist with tbe camera was.

If OP hadnt been lokking at her pbone, the cyclist wouldnt have suddenly appeared at the window, she would have seen them filtering.

Cyclists going unnoticed at junctions is one of the riskiest situations for them as they move in and outof blind spots.