Strict Interpretation by High Court as to What Amounts to a Mobile Phone Offence

In the last decade, several steps have been taken to crack down on the use of mobile telephones while driving.

In March 2017, the Penalty increased from 3 to 6 points, and in 2022, the law changed so that any ‘use’ of the phone, not just use requiring some form of interaction, was prohibited. We have seen Police campaigns of patrols in HGVs or inviting dash cam footage from members of the Public, to maximise the number of cases being punished.

In a recent case, a driver who had been convicted at the Magistrates’ Court challenged the High Court to ask whether it was really an offence of ‘using a mobile phone’ when he held the phone for a very short moment to catch it from falling off the seat next to him. He didn’t give any commands to the phone, and he argued the Magistrates were wrong.

Unfortunately for the driver, the High Court found that the Magistrates were right. This should be a warning for any driver that holding a phone at any point on the journey, either to stop it slipping, put it back into a cradle, or plug it in – will all amount to an offence.

The High Court did not rule out the potential that the circumstances of the driver’s case could amount to Special Reasons but gave no view as to the strength of that argument. A Special Reasons argument would allow a Court to consider that specific mitigation of an offence may be enough to allow them not to impose penalty points despite an offence being committed.

Under the new laws, several other actions that would also amount to an offence are listed. These include pressing the phone to illuminate the screen, checking the time, rejecting or answering a call, or unlocking the device.

Carrying out any of these functions on a smartwatch could also probably amount to an offence under the legislation.

The Police no longer offer diversionary courses for mobile phone offences, it will always be a fixed penalty or a court prosecution with a fixed 6 points. This will be a worry for many drivers. At 12 points, a driver would face a totting-up disqualification. For professional drivers, 6 points can lead to a Driver Conduct Hearing before the Traffic Commissioner. For Private Hire Drivers, most Licensing Policies would refer to this as a ‘Major Driving Offence’, resulting in licence revocation.

We have successfully challenged prosecutions in which the Police Officer’s evidence was challenged, and drivers were found not guilty of any offence by the Court.

Call our team today if you are being prosecuted for using a mobile phone.