I was behind a car today...

Diagro

Diagro

Diagro

Soldato
Joined
3 Jun 2012
Posts
11,266
.... And the driver was watching YouTube on his phone, which was mounted right in front of his face.

I have it on dash cam ha
 
I followed someone that had their satnav mounted right in the middle of the screen, must have blocked a fair bit of their vision.
 
Is this illegal I quite often have YouTube playlists playing on my phone while driving? Mine is mounted on the center console but I could watch it if I wanted too.
 
also seemingly this (from multiple sources eg)

Can you use your phone as a sat nav?
Yes – as long as you programme it before you start the car and set off and it's in a holder out of the 45-degree angle of the driver's view.
You cant re-programme or touch it while in motion, the same rules apply for any sat nav.
Click to expand...
I had never heard the 45 issue before .......
need to fill in thread time until we see the video
 
jpaul said:
also seemingly this (from multiple sources eg)


I had never heard the 45 issue before .......
need to fill in thread time until we see the video
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'd trust a red top rag for legal advice tbh. Here's another snippet from your source:

Can you use your phone at traffic lights?
No.

Even when you are stationary it is still classed as driving and you are still in charge of the vehicle so using your phone in traffic or at lights is still an offence.
Click to expand...

It would only be illegal if you held it in your hand, the same as if you were driving along etc. To hand hold a phone you need to be parked, with the engine/ignition off, handbrake on etc. According to Breadvan (barrister and motoring law expert over on PH) the way they have worded that advice is pure bullocks.

The legislation says you can't use a mobile phone (for anything, including the internet, a clock etc) if it has to be hand held during the course of its operation. As such a device mounted to your dash is exempt and doesn't constitute an offence under the mobile phone laws. It 'could' be construed as driving without due care and attention if it impacted the safety of your drive (the same way it could if you changed the radio, opened a chocolate bar, or whatever). Even some police forces give incorrect advice, with one tweeting that it was illegal to use your phone at the McDonald's drive through. In fact that's wrong as the legislation specifically says on the public highway or somesuch, the wording meaning a supermarket car park / drive through / whatever can't complete the offence.

As for the OP, it definitely is illegal for the driver to have a playing video visible to him/her, even a dashcam with real time screen. Get your footage posted up for lulz, man!
 
Rainmaker said:
I'm not sure I'd trust a red top rag for legal advice tbh. Here's another snippet from your source:
Click to expand...
as I said its on multiple sources ..
I could not get the uk legislation site to work to see the letter of the law for 45 , or to see how 'don't play a video' is worded.

EDIT: elaborating ... I had previously thought law was as you decribed it, but these articles sewed a doubt about the details of the March updates
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom