Using a handheld mobile telephone while backside the wheel has long been a controversial and incredibly dangerous event for UK drivers.
Following changes on 25 March 2022, motorists are breaking the police if they utilize a handheld mobile phone backside the bicycle for any use.
This includes taking photos or videos, scrolling through music playlists, using streaming services, or playing games – as the government closes a loophole previously exploited by unsafe drivers to escape conviction.
Ship Secretarial assistant Grant Shapps said: “I will practise everything in my power to keep road-users safe, which is why I am taking a cypher-tolerance arroyo to those who decide to gamble lives by using their phone behind the wheel. I’1000 ensuring anyone who chooses to break this vital law can confront punishment for doing so and nosotros’ll continue our efforts to ensure our roads remain among the safest in the world.”
Our 2020 Report on Motoring found that nigh a tertiary of Britain’southward xl meg drivers – roughly 13 1000000 people – say that handheld mobile phone utilize past other drivers is one of their top concerns.
Nevertheless, due to growing media attention and increased lobbying from the RAC, unsafe loopholes involving using phones behind the wheel have recently been closed.
Our Be Phone Smart campaign and the guide below provide advice on how to use your phone safely and within the rules of the law.
What are the mobile phone driving laws?
After the recent update to the police, information technology’s illegal to agree and use a phone, saturday nav, tablet, or any handheld device that can transport or receive information, while driving or riding a motorcycle.
For Britain drivers, this means that they cannot use a device in your hand for any reason.
The constabulary yet applies if a driver is stopped at traffic lights, queuing in traffic, supervising a learner driver, or using a automobile that has a start/stop engine when you’re not moving.
Drivers must never use a handheld device when behind the wheel, even if information technology is offline or in flying manner.
Should any commuter break the law, they can go up to 6 penalization points and a £200 fine. They could likewise lose their licence if they passed their driving test inside the last 2 years.
Drivers can get a farther 3 penalty points if they do non have a full view of the road and traffic alee or proper control of the vehicle if they are using a handheld device.
Offenders can besides be taken to court where they can be banned from driving and receive a maximum fine of £i,000 – or up to £2,500 for lorry or bus drivers.
The RAC has campaigned to toughen the penalties, because we know that growing numbers of our members are frustrated at seeing other road users flouting the police.
Hands-gratis phone use: the law
There are ii things to retrieve here:
- You cannot concur your phone when backside the wheel, even momentarily (this includes when supervising a learner driver).
- To use your phone for communication you must have hands-free access.
Any hands-free devices should be fully gear up up before you bulldoze, so you lot can accept calls without treatment the device. Any device must non block the view of the road.
In an August 2022 report, the Commons Transport Committee put forwards their instance for banning the use of hands-free kits. They suggested that using the engineering science carries the aforementioned risk of collision as a hand-held telephone.
The regime said there are no plans to introduce a ban.
The police notwithstanding accept the power to finish you lot if they believe you have been distracted by using a mobile phone while driving, even if it’s fully hands-free.
Some route safety groups believe mobile phones should be completely switched off while driving, to avert whatsoever distractions.
Using a phone as a sat-nav: the police force
Information technology is no alibi to say you’re simply following a map on your phone and that’s why you’ve picked information technology up.
If yous wish to use an app for directions you should fix the phone to the windscreen or dashboard, so information technology’due south in articulate view while driving (simply non obstructing your view), without requiring you to hold or interact with it.
When can you use a phone in your vehicle?
The law is clear on when you can use a hand-held device behind the wheel.
It is only legal if you lot are safely parked – and this does not include waiting in traffic or stationary at the traffic lights.
The law besides includes a proviso for emergencies: you are allowed to make 999 or 112 calls on a hand-held device while driving, merely only if information technology’s not otherwise rubber to terminate.
Post-obit the recent update to the law, drivers can make a contactless payment in a vehicle that is non moving, for example at a bulldoze-through restaurant. And with new engineering being introduced to vehicles, drivers can apply a mobile phone if it is being used park your vehicle remotely.
What if I need to use my phone to track my mileage?
If you accept something like Pay by Mile motorcar insurance or Black Box Car Insurance, you may well take an app that tracks your journeys and mileage.
It is illegal to utilise you phone while y’all’re driving, and these apps shouldn’t need y’all to interact with them while you’re on the route. They only need to be running in the groundwork.
Tin I use my phone while driving if I’thousand not moving?
What are the penalties for using your telephone while driving?
The penalization for being caught using a hand-held device is a Fixed Penalty Notice of £200, and vi penalty points on your licence.
Drivers can get a further 3 penalisation points if they practice non have a full view of the route and traffic ahead or proper control of the vehicle if they are using a handheld device. Offenders tin can also be taken to courtroom where they tin can exist banned from driving and receive a maximum fine of £one,000.
Find out more about driving offences and their punishments.
Could I lose my licence for using a phone?
Absolutely.
If a new driver (someone who has held a licence for less than ii years) is caught using a paw-held device behind the wheel, they will lose their licence. It may also affect your car insurance premium. Information technology may not go up immediately, notwithstanding when yous go to renew your car insurance or have out temporary car insurance, information technology volition be considered and may affect your premium then.
Drivers are only allowed to clock up half-dozen penalty points in their first 2 years of driving, rather than the normal 12.
More than experienced motorists tin lose their licence if they receive 12 points in a three-year period – so merely two mobile phone incidents nether the current law.
Also, if the police feel it is a specially extreme instance of using a mobile phone behind the bike, the commuter could be taken to courtroom.
Here, the maximum fine is £two,000, and guilty drivers could face disqualification.
Motorists involved in an accident caused by using a paw-held device behind the cycle face stiff penalties too.
For example, the authorities is considering increasing the penalty for causing death by dangerous or careless driving from 14 years to life imprisonment.i
A two-year driving ban is also obligatory.2
Mobile phone use while driving: the stats
Despite mobile telephone laws becoming stricter, British motorists are, worryingly, becoming more willing to use hand-held devices behind the wheel.
The RAC Report on Motoring 2020 institute that 29% of all drivers – the equivalent to
over 11 one thousand thousand motorists – confess to making or receiving calls on a handheld phone while they are driving, at least occasionally. Up from 24% in 2022.
Unsafe phone use is especially prominent amongst young people. A shocking 18% of drivers aged 17-24 admit to making video calls while behind the wheel. Drivers in this age grouping are twice as likely to practice this than boilerplate road-users.
23%
of all drivers confess that they brand or receive calls on a handheld phone while they are driving
Advice and apps to help you stop using your phone
The easiest mode to finish your mobile phone from distracting you when driving is to switch information technology off. Alternatively, your phone might have a driving manner putting a temporary block on sounds, vibrations and notifications.
If you lot admittedly have to stay in touch, make certain yous accept hands-gratis access to your telephone so you tin can withal accept calls. Bluetooth devices cost fiddling and most modern cars accept Bluetooth connectivity as standard.
Try placing your phone in the glovebox, a pocket, or handbag with the sound and vibration turned off. This will prevent you from getting distracted by the screen lighting upwardly or any alert sounds.
There are also apps to help y’all resist the urge to reach for your telephone while driving. One of the most popular is called LifeSaver – Distracted Driving, available for iOS and Android devices.
This uses a clever combination of GPS monitoring and a rewards system to assistance overcome distracted driving.
Information technology blocks the phone while driving (including text messages), and can automatically alert others that you’ve arrived safely at your destination, if you wish.
There’s an online ‘Driver Portal’ Lifesaver dashboard that can be accessed by parents or commercial armada managers, to advantage drivers using the app and building up points. This will also, however, display transgressions.
There are lots more tips on the RAC’south Exist Phone Smart website.
How can I written report mobile phone driving offenders?
Members of the public can report repeat offenders anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Learn more about reporting unsafe driving.
What the RAC says
Our campaign, Exist Phone Smart, encourages drivers to have a positive step past committing to not using a handheld phone. Make an online promise to keep within the law, keep your focus on the road alee, and share the bulletin with others.
The campaign website includes tips and advice on staying safe and legal, answers mutual questions (such as ‘tin I impact my phone if I am using information technology easily-free?’), and features videos that discuss the issue of phone use by drivers in the UK.
Read adjacent: A consummate guide to speed photographic camera fines
Want to protect yourself against any losses after an accident? Get legal expenses insurance for just £15 a year with RAC Legal Care Plus.
Mobile phone laws frequently asked questions
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Is touching your phone while driving illegal?
Electric current law forbids holding a mobile phone while driving. Although this could hateful yous can tap your screen when your phone is fixed on a mount, the police tin charge yous for driving without due care and attention or careless driving.
Driving without due care and attention will consequence in a fixed-punishment notice (FPN). This usually means three points on your driving licence and a £100 fine, although some police forces may offer a driver education class equally an culling.
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Tin I answer my phone while driving?
It’s illegal to concur a phone while driving, but answering a phone call through a easily-gratis kit is permitted.
Though the Commons Transport Committee want to innovate a coating ban on easily-gratis devices, the government accept said at that place are no plans to introduce such a measure.
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Can cameras catch you using a telephone while driving?
Cameras aren’t currently able to catch drivers using a phone while driving in the U.k.. However alternative engineering science tin detect if a phone is making calls, sending and receiving text letters or using the internet. Hampshire Constabulary and Thames Valley police rolled out the sensor system in early 2022. The system cannot tell who is using the phone within a car, but can tell if it’due south being used through the handset itself or a Bluetooth system.
Our Study on Motoring 2020 establish that 79% of drivers want to see cameras introduced to grab drivers using a handheld telephone illegally.
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You are driving on a motorway and want to utilize your mobile phone – what should you do?
If you observe yourself on the motorway and desire to employ your mobile phone to brand a call, you should utilize a hands-gratuitous kit. If you do not take a hands-free kit or wish to use features that aren’t phonation-activated, you should wait until yous’ve pulled over in a prophylactic place and turned off your engine.
A service station is probable to exist your best pick, as the hard shoulder should merely be used for emergencies.
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What’southward the mobile phone driving offence code?
The endorsement code for using a mobile telephone whilst driving is CU80. Beingness caught carries a penalization of six points and a £200 fine.
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Tin can you take your telephone on speaker while driving?
Using your phone’southward speaker in a call is completely legal. Using your easily to answer the telephone call even so, could see yous state a CU80 charge or a ‘breach of requirements equally to command of the vehicle, such as using a mobile phone’.
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Tin you use a mobile telephone whilst driving on individual property?
Driving offences tin only be enforced on those using a vehicle on public roads. The Road Traffic Regulations Deed defines a road as “any length of highway or other road to which the public has access.”
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Is it illegal to have a telephone on your dashboard?
It isn’t illegal to have a phone on your dashboard, merely you lot must ensure information technology doesn’t block your view of the road and traffic ahead. A windscreen mount or dashboard holder/mat offers easily-free access to your telephone and is recommended by the authorities.
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Tin can you use your phone at a red light?
As y’all are all the same in control of your car at a ruby light, the only mode yous can legally apply a phone is with a easily-free kit. The same applies when queuing in traffic and supervising a learner driver from the passenger seat.
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How can I stay off my phone while driving?
You tin can stay off your phone while driving in one of three ways:
- Switching it off: Turning your phone off cuts out any take a chance that you’ll be distracted past calls or notifications.
- Keeping it out of attain: Placing your phone in a pocketbook or the glove compartment makes reaching for your telephone impractical.
- Using apps/software: Using driving mode or ‘do non disturb’ tin can cake incoming calls and texts for the duration of a journeying. A number of apps are also available and even offer incentives for reduced phone use.
There are lots more tips on the RAC’due south Be Phone Smart campaign website.
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When did information technology become illegal to employ a mobile phone whilst driving?
The start mobile phone driving laws were introduced in December 2003. From 2007 the penalty stood at three points on your licence and a £100 fine. In 2017 the penalty doubled, so now drivers will receive six points and have to pay a £200 fine.
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Is driving with Bluetooth legal?
Driving with Bluetooth engineering allows you to utilize your telephone legally. It’due south important that you pair your mobile with your machine or device before starting your journey or while safely parked.
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Is information technology legal to use a easily-free mobile telephone when driving?
A hands-costless kit is the merely way motorists should use their phones to communicate while driving. In that location accept been calls from MPs to ban the technology in cars, simply as of November 2022, the Government has no intention of prohibiting them.
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