Stopped for using mobile phone while driving

[DrivingOffence]

Regular mumsnetter name changed for this as I'm very ashamed of myself.

I was driving, queuing in traffic (so not moving), looked at my phone for no good reason, I know this is illegal and irresponsible. I didn't notice there was a police officer on the other side of the road and he obviously pulled me over, took my license details and logged the offence. He asked why I was using my phone and I had to say I had no good reason, I didn't.

Could anyone advise me please what is likely to happen? I have looked it up and it seems that the minimum penalty is 6 points and a £200 fine, so I assume I'll get that. Is there a risk of further prosecution/penalties?

Any advice most welcome and feel free to tell me what an irresponsible idiot I am, I know I am but deserve a kicking tbh.

Seriously? Put it in the boot if you really can’t trust yourself.

Fairly simple really. Put the phone in the boot before you set off.

@Bromptotoo

But you should not be operating that driving either!

The only things that are acceptable are the things on your steering wheel plus obviously gear stick and brake.

Yes, I put mine in my bag zipped pocket with the 'I'm Driving' switched on, you need to put it well out of reach OP so you are not tempted

I don't think android has that

I think it's worrying in itself that you a) weren't aware of the fact that you shouldn't be on your phone even when at lights (even though a lot of us do it to send an "will be late" message etc) and b) you didn't notice the police car next to you.

What if I listen to music whilst driving. I think that's part of the temptation

I think some cars pretty much only have a large iPad type thing which you use for everything.

If I'm doing a long journey my mobile phone will be in a cradle on the dashboard because I use google maps to navigate. I always use Siri to send messages re my eta if necessary.

I think this is all legal but can't see why using a mobile while stationary is more dangerous 🤷‍♀️.

And supposing the traffic had a moved on. How would the police officer know that she had only just picked up the phone? The OP admits that she had no reasonable excuse. To her credit she is not trying to justify her actions, she’s simply asked no about consequences. Zero tolerance is the best policy here.

Car displays such as android auto and Car Play are purposefully very app limited and therefore there’s not multiple screens to go through, and from experience, I don’t think the majority of people would ever need to. I don’t remember the last time I swiped through pages of stuff. They are controllable by voice too so there’s no real need to be touching them. You can be done for not keeping control of the vehicle while using any in car radio/sat nav though.

I cannot, for the life of me begin to understand why anyone can even dare pick up a phone while driving. I lose mine in the car most journeys because I just throw it somewhere when I get in 🤣 I have friends that do use the phone in car, to send voice notes I know they can’t initiate recording without holding the phone in the car. It disappoints me massively. Everything can wait. Absolutely everything. This isn’t a holier than thou thing to say, it’s just absolutely sensible, and I hope this thread does change someone’s behaviours.

Just out of curiosity, is it OK to look at your watch whilst driving?

Yup my android auto is limited. I only use it to play musi from soundcloud and calls and messages.

I can change music through the buttons on my steering wheel so no need to touch the display.

If I get a message it reads aloud if I ask it to and I can respond back with a reply by voice. All hands free. Same with making or receiving calls either by voice or buttons on the steering wheel

Only time I touch my phone is before I set off to connect it to the car and when I'm parked up at the end to disconnect it.

There's no need is there, since there's a clock on the dashboard.

Also since most watches just show the time they're a lot less distracting than phones. (I think smart watches might be covered under the same law that covers phones - it says "any device that can send and receive data").

@DrivingOffence don’t stress yourself. Exactly the same happened to me a while ago. Was in standstill traffic in London, moved <1 mile in 1.5 hours, checked my Home Screen at the time a police motorbike was weaving in and out and happened to be next to me. He was really nasty (personal and inappropriate comments), took photos and told me I’d receive a letter in the post. I did. The letter offered me points and fine OR a driving awareness course which I did. It was people with the same/similar offences such a flying red lights, distracted while driving, etc. hopefully you get the same offer as it won’t impact insurance!

Why isn't she? OP's not answerable to you or any other poster on the thread. The police will do what they do - or not - and OP will be sanctioned (or not, fingers crossed) but as you're not paying the fine or taking the points your hectoring isn't needed.

That's a big presumption. If someone's going to get so anxious at someone else waiting a few seconds that they aren't going to even check their mirrors then there's much bigger safety concerns about them driving in general.

Thank you.

Is there a reason to? Every car I’ve had, has had a clock front and centre of the dashboard.

This is so ridiculous. Maybe imagine how you would feel losing a relative because some idiot was 'addicted' to checking their phone.

Maybe grow up a bit and stop driving until you can control yourself.

Turn off the phone and put it in the boot when you drive? EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I think poster means a smart watch that sends texts and notifications that you could read while driving.

I didn’t say I didn’t notice the police car, I said I didn’t pay any attention to it because I didn’t realise at the time I was doing anything wrong.

The campaigns around phone usage focused very much around using your phone while driving, something I didn’t realise at the time included being stopped at lights. I obviously know what I did was an offence now and I understand why it is. I have told my story on here, something I never do in real life, to hopefully reassure the OP that she’s not the first person to find herself in this situation and to warn others that mobile phone usage covers more than some might imagine.

I was in a different county to where I live, will it be reported to the police in my county and dealt with by them? Just wondering if different counties have different policies on it (eg offering option for safe driving course, phone awareness etc) and if so which county's policy would apply to me.

It'll be the police force in the area you were that deal with everything.