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Original poster

I was pulled over for using a PDA at red lights...

46 replies

needanothername · 16/10/2008 13:55

Apparently, a PDA comes into the same category as a phone and therefore has the same laws applied ie you can't use it while driving.
However, my PDA is a palm, where I store my diary and my contacts. It can't be used as a phone and I think it could be used to pick up emails but has never been.
I was running late for the dentist, and while sitting at a red light, I took my palm out of my handbag and looked up the dentist's telephone number. There was a police van behind me and they pulled me over.

What's the difference between looking a number up on an electronic device and in a paper diary or a business card stashed in a wallet?

I was let off with a warning but feel peeved about the whole thing. Made me even later for the dentist!

OP posts:

theSuburbanDryad · 16/10/2008 14:19

I'm not sure it's legal to be looking at a PDA, tap the number into your phone and wait for it to ring, even on a handsfree.

Handsfree kits make it legal to talk on the phone whilst driving - not use your phone whilst driving IYSWIM. Anyway, it all comes under the "due care and attention" banner, and if you were spotted doing it and out of control of your vehicle you could be prosecuted.

IIWY i'd stop arguing your case and be grateful you got off without a fine/points on your licence. I hope you didn't argue with the police who pulled you over!!

CountessDracula · 16/10/2008 14:19

you can't use an mp3 player???

DaisyMooSteiner · 16/10/2008 14:20

Wonder what Cod would have said

IotasCat · 16/10/2008 14:21

DaisyMoo - I'm sure most people thave done similar things, but it doesn't alter the fact that it is illegal and therefore it's a fair cop if you get caught

Original poster

needanothername · 16/10/2008 14:21

Can I just emphasise that I wouldn't have done this if my car had been in motion. Just as I wouldn't have used a handheld mobile phone at traffic lights, as you have little control over the length of the conversation.
I was at red lights, my car was in "park". I looked the number up, memorised it, put the thing back in my bag, and was ready to move off when the lights changed. Looking up a telephone number does not consume one's "care and attention" in the same way as making a call or using sat nav.

However, I won't be doing it again!

OP posts:

theSuburbanDryad · 16/10/2008 14:22

CD - Of course not! I mean, you can have it plugged in and be listening to it (on speakers, not on headphones), but you can't be scrolling through looking for your favourite track! How is that any different to texting? In fact I'd say it's more dangerous, as i can text without looking at my phone but if I'm looking for a song then i need to look which means I'm not paying proper attention to the road!

DaisyMooSteiner · 16/10/2008 14:23

What, you'd seriously think 'fair enough' if you'd glanced at a map at red traffic lights?

Flamesparrow · 16/10/2008 14:25

They publicised the law well enough - no using phone (OR pda) whilst the engine is running. Tis the same as starting the engine whilst over the limit - regardless of if you drive anywhere

CountessDracula · 16/10/2008 14:26

That is stupid
Why can't you look at a map when stationary?

theSuburbanDryad · 16/10/2008 14:27

I doubt you'd get pulled for that though - in the same way you wouldn't get pulled for "glancing" at a phone/PDA/iPod/whatever. But if you had the whole map out and were looking intently at it, or if you had it spread over your steering wheel then yeah, I expect you'd get pulled.

If you need to do something which is going to absorb your attention (such as looking up a phone number/texting/changing songs on an iPod) then you should pull over in a safe place to do so IMO. Like I said, I'm not lily-white by any means but if i got pulled over i'd think it was a fair cop. I know it's illegal so I'm knowingly breaking the law - which in some ways makes it even worse than the OP (who couldn't see what she'd done wrong)

theSuburbanDryad · 16/10/2008 14:29

AFAIK it's not about being stationary. It's about being in control of a vehicle. As Flame says, it doesn't matter if you're moving or not - if you're behind the wheel of the car with the engine running then you're in control of the vehicle and if you're doing something which could take your attention away from that then you're not using due care and attention.

It might be silly, but them's the laws.

Bramshott · 16/10/2008 14:32

Out of interest, is the law different if you turn off the engine? I often turn off the engine at traffic lights.

Cammelia · 16/10/2008 14:33

Presumably you should have pulled up at the side of the road to look up the number. You were in a position requiring your full care and attention.

CountessDracula · 16/10/2008 14:35

so presumably none of us should drive with children in the car
I can't think of anything more distracting!

theSuburbanDryad · 16/10/2008 14:36

No idea - but I would assume that because you're on the highway and therefore effectively blocking the road, if you weren't "done" for the due care and attention thing you'd get booked for blocking the road needlessly!

It's common sense though, innit? You know that using a mobile is illegal while driving, because let's face it, you'd have to live with your head in a bag not to know it. So it stands to reason that using a PDA is going to be illegal as well. It doesn't matter that you're stationary when you're using it - you're still driving!

I miss Cod...

Flamesparrow · 16/10/2008 14:38

Do you Bramshott??

Kathyis6incheshigh · 16/10/2008 14:38

ssshhhh Countess or they'll ban us all.

nooka · 16/10/2008 14:46

I suspect they thought you weren't paying attention to your surroundings because you didn't notice there was a police car behind you. You got a warning, which is fair enough. I think if they had fined you then that would have been unfair. One of the reasons for the law is for the drivers safety, as well as everyone else's. I can understand why you felt peeved, but it's a fair cop really isn't it?

Miffyinsurrey · 16/10/2008 14:50

I think the police should focus on catching those who drive along whilst on their phone, particularly those who do this on the M25...this is so much more dangerous than glancing at a PDA whilst at a traffic light.

I would never dream of using my phone while driving but I have been guilty of brushing my hair whilst stationary at a red light (whoops!), knowing I have enough time before the lights change to green.

nooka · 16/10/2008 14:57

Well it was hardly out of their way was it? The OP was basically a sitting duck.

NewspiritsFromOldghosts · 16/10/2008 16:26

A hands free kit is there so that the phone is hands free.

If you have to use the keypad to dial numbers then you are not handsfree and you can be prosecuted.
My handsfree kit is literally that, i use voice commands to dial numbers and answer calls. Therefore i can use it whilst driving. Not ideal though, if you are talking on the phone you are still distracted.

So, you say you put the pda back in your bag and at the next set of lights you would have dialled the number? Well you would have broken the law then as well.

Looking up a number on a pda isn't "glancing" at it.

Put it down to experience and don't do it again.

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