Got Stopped today

custardy

Mark_Mark wrote: »

The driver would still be driving and not in charge.

How does driving mean not in charge?

Mark_Mark

custardy wrote: »

How does driving mean not in charge?

Because you're driving in those circumstances.

bigadaj

Mark_Mark wrote: »

Because you're driving in those circumstances.

Still not making sense.

The only circumstances where many men can be driving and not In charge is when the missus is in the passenger seat.

Bantex_2

londonTiger wrote: »

Cool, I will turn off my engine next time. :rotfl:

Joking aside I've never held up traffic, always keep one eye on the road. never check messages when I'm in the front of ther queue in traffic as that is easier to miss.

I might be breaking the law, but I have a busy schedule and I receive important info by text. I sometimes have to deliver equipment to clients and they all seem to send a text message rather than call to ask how long I'll be. That's frustrating.

I would suspect you are not as important as you think and a 5 minute wait would make no difference.

bigadaj

Bantex wrote: »

I would suspect you are not as important as you think and a 5 minute wait would make no difference.

Dont you think a white van man courier is important?

da_rule

Engine off makes no difference, you are still in charge or a motor vehicle so can still be guilty of the offence. There are some caveats to that obviously, such as being stationary in a lay-by or car park etc, but if you were just queued in traffic then yes you would still have committed the offence. Much in the same way that you can be drunk in charge of a motor vehicle with the engine off. In terms of phone, someone supervising a learner driver is also committing an offence if they use their mobile phone as they are in charge.

Mark_Mark

da_rule wrote: »

Engine off makes no difference, you are still in charge or a motor vehicle so can still be guilty of the offence. There are some caveats to that obviously, such as being stationary in a lay-by or car park etc, but if you were just queued in traffic then yes you would still have committed the offence. Much in the same way that you can be drunk in charge of a motor vehicle with the engine off. In terms of phone, someone supervising a learner driver is also committing an offence if they use their mobile phone as they are in charge.

In a queue of traffic you are driving not in charge. For drunk in charge they have to prove a likelyhood to drive, this is not the case with mobile phones.

Nilrem

neilmcl wrote: »

Interesting point about the legalities of using the phone with the engine off. It's my understanding, possibly incorrectly, that this isn't an offence, correct? If that's the case what would happen if you were caught looking at your phone, stuck in traffic, with your car's stop/start system engaged? Never happened to me, and I never use my mobile in the car anyway, but something I was thinking about the other day when a missed call came through whilst waiting at the traffic lights.

From memory if you're in traffic you're still in charge of the vehicle, and if you're at traffic lights you're most definitely in charge of it, as you're expected to be paying attention to the traffic/lights/pedestrians and be ready to move off.

To use a phone you are meant to pull over and turn the engine off, anything else and you're running the risk of getting done by a cop.

Given the number of numpties I see using phones in conditions where they shouldn't, I just wish that there were more police out there to catch the drivers, and that there was a similar offence for cyclists, I regularly see idiots on bikes texting with no hands on the controls whilst on a busy town centre road, how the hell they don't kill themselves I don't know (about the only guess I can make is that they must be very religious, I know that I tend to go "my god did you see that retard?" to my passengers when they nearly get knocked off by a driver as they drift into oncoming traffic).

da_rule

Does anyone else remember the case where Jimmy Carr got off of a using mobile phone ticket at court when he (or his expensive barrister) successfully argued that he was using his phone as a dictaphone.

Mark_Mark

Nilrem wrote: »

From memory if you're in traffic you're still in charge of the vehicle, and if you're at traffic lights you're most definitely in charge of it, as you're expected to be paying attention to the traffic/lights/pedestrians and be ready to move off.

To use a phone you are meant to pull over and turn the engine off, anything else and you're running the risk of getting done by a cop.

Given the number of numpties I see using phones in conditions where they shouldn't, I just wish that there were more police out there to catch the drivers, and that there was a similar offence for cyclists, I regularly see idiots on bikes texting with no hands on the controls whilst on a busy town centre road, how the hell they don't kill themselves I don't know (about the only guess I can make is that they must be very religious, I know that I tend to go "my god did you see that retard?" to my passengers when they nearly get knocked off by a driver as they drift into oncoming traffic).

In a queue of traffic you are driving, if you pull over and turn the engine off you are still in charge.