ticket for holding a phone - worth challenging?

unwashed potato!

unwashed potato!

unwashed potato!

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so today i reversed out of my drive, holding a phone that had no sim card in one of my hands. this was noticed by a police and i was stopped (first time in 6 years) and given a ticket.

i spoke to the first nice helpful officer who made the claim i was on the phone, i explained i was simply holding it and showed that it was in fact simless.

the second officer then came out and gave the ticket for 'using a phone', i tried explaining it wasn't being used as it simply couldn't be used to make a call, which as far as i can see from a quick bit of googling is the offence, which is using a device capable of sending data.

he was a bit heavy handed tbh and started spurting out other ways he will fine me, for instance i've literally just moved house so my license still has my mums address, so he was threatening to fine me £2000 for that etc.

i accepted the ticket and was told most likely case would be a dangerous drivers course and a fine, which i signed for. i now on reflection feel annoyed as i shouldn't have signed the ticket as it was written 'using a phone' and should have got it changed to holding a phone that had no sim.

i didn't because of the heavy handed way the second officer treated the situation.

now i can accept the fine as £90 isn't too big of a deal, but wanted to check is it worth challenging this as i've taken this fine and will have to spend part of my day on this course, just for simply holding which is essentially a music device.
 
You were holding a phone, there's nothing to challenge. They wouldn't have changed the ticket, you don't need to be using a phone to be using a phone. Using in the more general sense, that you were.
 
I'm sure there was a recent case where a celebrity managed to get a ticket annulled because he proved he was holding the phone and doing a voice recording, not making a call. So you may be able to defend it.

Best thing to do it to go onto fightback forums and post a thread under the "speeding and other criminal offences" section. A lot of the posters on there are extremely knowledgeable, and will tell you straight away if you have case or not.
 
Why the hell were you holding the phone in your hand? Was putting it down that difficult? Just pay the ticket and learn from the experience.
 
You have the most apt username ever. Yet to see a thread you've made that doesn't have that as the first response :D
 
whilst it seems like a stupid reason to get a fine, why were you holding the phone while you were moving if you were not using it?
 
I can't imagine any situation where you can justify holding a phone without a sim card. What good reason could could you have that would somehow change the offense?

Fairly sure the answer is no(ne) :p
 
MrMoonX said:
This +1000
Click to expand...

I'm going to hazard a guess and say that it's on balance of probability, mobile phones are a serious issue and even a phone without a sim can be texting or VOIPing when on WiFi.

You won't belive the number of people I see on my commute with thier heads down tapping away.

It's a question of where the police draw a line, and it's a difficult line to draw as mentioned, smoking could arguably be a distraction, as could taking a drink from a bottle or changing the channel on the radio, where should the line be drawn?

Ban manual cars as you have to shift gear and use a clutch?

Mobile phone are an obvious problem to anyone who drives on a regular basis, and in my view you can't get too upset if you get busted for blatantly holding (using?) one whilst driving.
 
Fairly sure the answer is no said:
so today i reversed out of my drive, holding a phone that had no sim card in one of my hands. this was noticed by a police and i was stopped (first time in 6 years) and given a ticket.

i spoke to the first nice helpful officer who made the claim i was on the phone, i explained i was simply holding it and showed that it was in fact simless.

the second officer then came out and gave the ticket for 'using a phone', i tried explaining it wasn't being used as it simply couldn't be used to make a call, which as far as i can see from a quick bit of googling is the offence, which is using a device capable of sending data.

he was a bit heavy handed tbh and started spurting out other ways he will fine me, for instance i've literally just moved house so my license still has my mums address, so he was threatening to fine me £2000 for that etc.

i accepted the ticket and was told most likely case would be a dangerous drivers course and a fine, which i signed for. i now on reflection feel annoyed as i shouldn't have signed the ticket as it was written 'using a phone' and should have got it changed to holding a phone that had no sim.

i didn't because of the heavy handed way the second officer treated the situation.

now i can accept the fine as £90 isn't too big of a deal, but wanted to check is it worth challenging this as i've taken this fine and will have to spend part of my day on this course, just for simply holding which is essentially a music device.
Click to expand...


You had a phone in your hand, even if it was turned off/broken you are still committing the offence of holding the phone when you are in control of a vehicle. I know 2 people that have had the 3 points and fine for being on the phone in a layby with the engine running but not in gear. You were bang to rights I am afraid.
 
mattyfez said:
I'm going to hazard a guess and say that it's on balance of probability, mobile phones are a serious issue and even a phone without a sim can be texting or VOIPing when on WiFi.

You won't belive the number of people I see on my commute with thier heads down tapping away.

It's a question of where the police draw a line, and it's a difficult line to draw as mentioned, smoking could arguably be a distraction, as could taking a drink from a bottle or changing the channel on the radio, where should the line be drawn?

Ban manual cars as you have to shift gear and use a clutch?

Mobile phone are an obvious problem to anyone who drives on a regular basis, and in my view you can't get too upset if you get busted for blatantly holding (using?) one whilst driving.
Click to expand...

yet holding a potential fire is on! It really irks me too that smoking is not banned in cars, and even worse, smoking with children present in cars.
 
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