What if a motorist handles his phone whilst driving to either look at materials, such as pictures or texts, which had been downloaded from the internet before he started driving or to draft messages in preparation to send them by text? The court commented, without deciding the issue, that in cases like this there would be an argument to say that the motorist had fallen foul of the relevant Regulation and committed the offence! So, it’s all clear then….
Can you explain why filming isn’t an offense but sending a text is?
Yes, as filming does not require the device to use its interactive function. If you were in a dead zone with no signal the camera would still work. This is because it does not need incoming or ougoing data for the camera to work. That is why the court ruled that filming does not infringe this specific law. But, beware, the court did say that filming, for example, might amount to careless or even dangerous driving. Thank you for your commnent.
Hi, with this ruling from the High Court can I now feel safe while driving and inputting a postcode into my mobile sat nav at the same time?
No, you should not feel safe at all as the sat nav requires the phone to use its interactive functionality. If the Sat Nav is switched on whilst you input the postcode you commnit the offence when you touch it. I presume you could not input the post code unless it was switched on. So, you probably would commit the offence by inputting the post code.
That is really very interesting and an excellent article. It does make me wonder about using the phone as a sat-nav. As the sat-nav clearly uses data that is not resident on the phone, it would seem to be an offence. However, if the phone is in a cradle and is not touched while driving is that still an offence? I assume that even touching the phone while at traffic lights would be an infringement.
Yes, the phone uses its interactive function in order to operate as a Sat Nav. Thus, if you touch it at all during
its use as a Sat Nav you commit the offence. If it is held in a cradle and is not touched at all whilst driving then the
offence is not committed. It’s a minefield, isn’t it.