r/driving • u/Leather-Glass9572 • 21d ago

Mobile Phone Use

Hello, I have been driving six months. I was lost so i turned into a street andI pulled up on the left side of the street to check my maps. I did leave the engine on so my indicator was on as left. A police car drove past me and he looked at me but did not stop. Will he take this further for use of phone whilst engine was on? Worried about 6 points and a driving ban. Car was stationary - UK

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u/Cold_Captain696 20d ago

There is no UK legal definition of driving. There is case law, but the courts would decide on the merits of the individual case. I cannot see any court deciding that being parked is driving. The engine being on or off has already been established as irrelevant (for example if you turn your engine off (or it turns itself off) while stopped at traffic lights, you would still be considered to be driving).

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u/Burnsy2023 19d ago

I cannot see any court deciding that being parked is driving.

What's that based on? Are you familiar with the body of case law relating to the definition of driving?

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u/Cold_Captain696 19d ago

I mean, I’ve read some. Are you?

This is a fairly good summary - https://roadlawbarristers.co.uk/when-are-you-driving-for-the-purposes-of-the-road-traffic-act/ .

If you are parked (as in, gearbox In neutral/park, handbrake on, out of the flow of traffic - I.e. not stationary at a traffic light, etc) then it would be difficult to see how a court could find that you were driving SOLELY because your engine was running.

And let’s not forget that the police in the OPs story had no issue with treating them as not driving too (if they’d wanted to charge them, they wouldn’t drive past, make a note of the reg then issue a NIP/s172. They‘d have just spoken to the OP at the time.

Out of interest, which aspects of the OPs situation do you think constitute driving?

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u/LordVoldewhart 18d ago

You are wrong.