On phone in stationary traffic

[Charttopper]

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?

How do you "accidentally" check your phone?

You being delberately obtuse?

The cyclist could have moved into a position where OP may not have seen them or be able to see them while they are using their phone.

OP then pulls away or makes a turn unaware a cyclist has moved into their blindspot and then tries to use the same argument to justify causing death by dangerous driving.

I’ve just been googling this - are you in London @Charttopper ? There is a well known cyclist there who apparently does this. Apparently, he’s caught celebrities and got them fined as well.

But from what I’ve read, cyclists who go around doing this are also at risk of being fined themselves for causing traffic obstructions.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyclingMikey

He has a YouTube channel

https://youtube.com/@cyclingmikey?si=-QipZ8DjK65j0hxu

Literally just replied to what you said;

"I just tap a button once. I can also reply verbally and replying is the major issue here, you get a message, you look at the lights, then start replying."

P.s. we're probably the same age then

No not in London but interesting to know!

You’re in the wrong.

I know the police by us use a white van to get pics of people from above and it would not surprise me if they used a bike too.

Well she wasn't aware of a cyclist because she was looking down at her phone for a start.

@Charttopper it is my peri brain. My age begins with a 5 and as you said "my baby" in the back I don't think we are the same age, I wish I was your age. My baby has just gone out by himself, he is 19

The fact people need a course in common sense as well says a lot about society

If you're worried someone might steal your baby then locking the doors at every set of traffic lights is probably sensible

And stop using your phone whilst in the car

Look OP, I basically agree with you that checking your phone in stationary traffic is not dangerous and shouldn’t be treated as the same as people who scroll through insta at 70mph on the motorway and swerve about. But that’s not the law. So you choose to risk it (as many people do so I get why it feels unfair), you have to accept the consequences. There is no appeal.

No you can’t challenge it, the laws clear, if your engine is switched on and I’m pretty sure that includes stopped with stop/ start, you cannot use a mobile phone unless it’s hands free, frustrating though it seems, it is what it is

No one dies from shoplifting, fraud, illegal parking, secual assault but they have laws for that too

So we want society where one law is more serious than another we should all just do what we want?

It can be dangerous because I know someone who crashed into the car in front after looking up from reading his phone during stationary traffic.

Anyway, we’ve all done it rarely but you were too blasé and got caught.

Can you set your car to auto lock the doors when you drive off?

I'm curious how the OP thought that the cyclist was going to steal her baby out the car and make off on his bike while filming his crime...

Actually she mentions 'someone else' but if you're really that frightened of being ambushed in your car, wouldn't you want to keep an eye on who is around you? I wonder if the OP has the same thought every time a car pulls alongside her. Car parks must be a nightmare!

You had a baby in your car and used your phone Jesus Christ !
u deserved those points and fine !
doesn’t matter if your stationary it’s against the law !!!

Just to be clear, I don't sit around thinking everyone is a threat and going to steal my baby.

What I said was that in that moment, with a man behaving strangely (as I felt at the time as I didn't know what he was doing) all sorts went through my head. Have you never had an irrational thought in the moment of feeling a bit spooked?

I can accept responsibility and still think that particular part of the situation was unsettling.

I don't think about my phone while driving, it's in my bag with 'I'm driving' switched on. It can wait until I get to my destination. I wouldn't be able to accidentally answer my phone.

OP, if you had had a thread about a man coming up to your car and filming you in stationary traffic no mention of phonepeople would have agreed with you his behaviour was wierd and unsettling.

To find the Phone users, he has to film and look in every car. He can't see from behind as he approaches them!

I mean I would definitely ask to see all the footage to see if it checks out with the story - being filmed by a private citizen is a strange way for evidence gathering for prosecution. It could constitute harassment, no way to know whether the video was tampered with etc - what’s to stop any old weirdo with a vendetta just sending in an AI video of you on your phone in the car? There are solicitors who deal with challenging fixed penalty notices OP, perhaps you could talk to them and see if you have any grounds to challenge given the odd nature of how you were caught - man filming you without permission and being super weird about it.

honestly @Charttopper if the way you were caught actually was due to this deranged cyclists “evidence” (did the letter say how they caught you?) I think you could have grounds to push back on this and if there is a chance you can get those demerit points scrubbed I would take it - otherwise you’ll lose your licence if you for e.g. get two speeding fines in the next three years, or even less if you already have demerit points for something else.

If I receive a message while driving I just ask Siri to read it for me, after that she says do I want to reply? If I f do, I just talk & then she reads it back & asks do I want to send or amend simple , why anyone needs to touch a phone when in a car is beyond me

@Mycatmyworld One time I was in a lovely area and had opened Rightmove at the lights and typed in the neighbourhood before I came to my senses and chucked my phone in the passenger footwell out of reach. That was silly and really sobered me up to the fact that I might actually have a problematic addiction to Rightmove.