Bit of fun, so is this legal?

[Sk00p]

Posted recently on Twitter by Hants Road policing, driver stopped for texting in lane 3 during rush hour.




Posting pics on twitter while stationary with the engine running.. is that allowed?

[Sk00p]

Atomic12C said:

HantsRat said:

Yes they're not driving. It's a bit different to being on your phone at a red light waiting to move off. They're parked up on hard shoulder, hand brake on and not going anywhere so not driving.

It is a bit different, but its still 'driving', and therefore still illegal to use a hand held device.

To be legal he would have had to turn off the engine and get out of the vehicle before using the hand held device.
Engine must be off as that is also illegal to leave a vehicle on the highway with engine running.


If however, that image is from a head mounted camera, or a fixed mounted camera, then its a non-issue.


(I'm sure I'll be corrected if that is wrong).

That was my understanding of the law on it too, despite what common sense might suggest.

In here somewhere https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q955.htm although there maybe better sources of information

[Sk00p]

HantsRat said:

Whether someone is driving in terms of the law is a matter for a court to decide. Either way the officer is not going to ticket himself is he?

I agree and it is common sense, guess it just appealed to my sense of humour that the officer was highlighting catching someone using a mobile by technically, as my understanding goes, breaking the rules on hand held mobile use him/herself.

[ Although it could be someone leaning over from the back]

Good MPG though

[Sk00p]

CPS Website said:

Under existing case law a person may still be driving whilst the engine is running and the vehicle is stationary. This means that an individual stopped at a traffic light could be prosecuted for a mobile phone offence. The intention of the legislation is to promote road safety and so it will not normally be in the public interest to prosecute this offence if the driver has safely pulled over and stopped before taking hold of the phone.

So technically an offence but not in the public interest to prosecute...

Unless you are parked badly or an arse if confronted about it I suspect

[Sk00p]

largelunchbox said:

Am I missing something? I can’t see any one using a phone in the pic?

The photo taker

[Sk00p]

RizzoTheRat said:

Sk00p said:

largelunchbox said:

Am I missing something? I can’t see any one using a phone in the pic?

The photo taker

Which is a big assumption that nobody seems to have been able to confirm yet. The position of the photo looks to be about where a body mounted camera would be.

The closest they got on twitter to confirming it was to say the officer was stationary when it was taken as a few people asked in the end.

[Sk00p]

Catch it wrong and the crossing at Bramley near Amazingstoke can be down for over 10 mins. Ones right next to a station seem to be the worst as you end up waiting all the time they are at the platform