Laws around using mobile phones while driving?

Freecall

A somewhat watered down solution for the above problem is to use Section 38 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 - which is where the Highway Code gets its authority.  This can easily be revised by the Secretary of State and that is what is planned by the Government.

Under Section 38 Part 5 however, revisions to the code require a public consultation exercise which is why there is a delay.  This consultation concluded last week.

As with all Section 38 amendments, there are other stages which now need to be gone through including the amendment being laid before both Houses of Parliament and appropriate promulgation put in place before it can be used in support of any prosecutions.  This is an important difference between using Section 38 and changing the law itself through primary legislation, which of course would come into effect immediately.

What the ultimate impact will be in the Courts and therefore on the streets remains to be seen however….

Car_54

Freecall said:

The law is changing this year so that case will no longer apply.

There is a sweeping statement if ever I saw one.

After Barreto the Government's natural response was to tighten the law accordingly.  Unfortunately the way the original Bill was drawn up embeds the problem within the primary legislation itself which means that it cannot be amended by Government using secondary legislation or a Ministerial Statement.

Consequently the Act itself would need to be amended and I don't think that political will to use parliamentary time to make that happen.

Presumably you have some sort of inside track on the parliamentary timetable?

The relevant law (Construction and Use Regulations) is not an Act, but is secondary legislation. It can simply be amended by the Secretary of State, under section 41 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

But I believe the Secretary of State may be preoccupied by 'party' matters at the mo.

DB1904

Ectophile said:

When the new Highway Code comes out, the question of what the law is should be answered. If the Highway Code says "you must", then it will have a reference to the relevant law. Otherwise it's guidance, which can be used to determine liability in a civil case.

They need to change the law before it's printed in the Highway Code. 

Nofinway

So in answer to the questions about the legislation going through Parliament I found this on another site:

'The Highway Code changes have been introduced as a Statutory Instrument. 

In general SIs are not debated or voted on in parliament.  The transport select committee is essentially responsible for approving the changes which will occur on 29th January.

So unless Grant Shapps and his committee pull the plug at the last minute the SI should pass on the 29th Jan.

I haven't heard any demands in and around Parliament for the changes to be stopped.  Thankfully there is plenty of other stuff occupying MPs minds at the moment.

Parliament process here 

https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/secondary-legislation/statutory...'

TooManyPoints

I think what you are referring to are changes to the Highway Code (which must be put before Parliament under s38 of the RTA) Such changes do not amend legislation. Where they refer to legislation (i.e. when the HC says "must" or "must not"), unless that legislation has also been amended then changes in the HC are of no effect. The C&U regulations (specifically s110) must be amended in order for the deficiencies of the current regulations, highlighted by the Baretto judgement, to be removed. As far as I can see, no changes to the C&U regulations have been made.

The government release of imminent changes to the HC is here:

Highway Code changes set to take effect this weekend - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Significantly, it says this:

As part of their work to improve road safety even further, DfT also recently announced plans to change the laws around using handheld mobile phones while driving. They will be made stricter later this year, making virtually any use of them behind the wheel illegal, with those caught breaking the law potentially facing 6 penalty points and a £200 fine.

This would indicate to me that the necessary changes in the C&U regulations have not yet been made.

Freecall

TooManyPoints said:

This would indicate to me that the necessary changes in the C&U regulations have not yet been made.

This is correct.  Not only have they not been made, it would seem that they are not in process.

Lots of Government PR on the issue but as far as I can see the only concrete plan is to handle the matter with a Section 38 revision later this year.

Who knows though, a change in policy or Transport Secretary could change the whole picture.  At the end of the day it depends on political will, at present they have more pressing things to consider I guess. 

Bigphil1474

Grumpy_chap said:

Herzlos said:

So use it as a sat nav in a mount but don't adjust it whilst driving. 

When using the phone as a sat nav, does anyone here have any recommendation for a good universal mount?

I have one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modohe-Universal-Dashboard-Holder-Non-Slip-Black/dp/B07CXDZF7S/

It worked well-enough and is low-cost, but yesterday it broke - only used half-a-dozen times or so.  I may have just been unlucky for it to break so soon but before going to just get the same again, I thought there might be people here that can recommend something they know to do the trick and have reasonable longevity.

Grumpy chap - I bought one of these, to hold a Samsung A32 - it's working fine for me, although it took 6 weeks to arrive due to the shipping container delays. Only works when stuck on top of the dash - the vent holder bits are crap. I'd say it's 'OK', but have had it in the car 6 months and no problems, and for the price it was worth a punt. The release clips are a little clumsy.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B094FBSSNJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

Grumpy_chap

Thanks @Bigphil1474 - I've ordered one of those.  They look quite flexible and hopefully the suction mount can be angled to adhere to the windscreen as an alternative to dash.  I am not so keen on the vent mount - I just feel as though that would be a risk of falling and cracking the phone screen.

Aretnap

Well the government has finally published the update to the legislation. From 25th March it will be illegal to use a handheld phone for essentially any purpose while driving. Only exception I can see is for contactless payments at eg tollbooths and drive through McDonalds (plus the exception for 999 calls remains). 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/81/contents/made

TooManyPoints

Thanks for the info.

Not before time, IMHO.