Road Traffic Act 1988, section 41 D.  The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No.4) Regulations 2003.

This Section states that no person shall drive a motor vehicle on the road if he is using a hand-held mobile telephone, or a hand-held device which performs an interactive communication.

A person can also be guilty of an offence of causing or permitting the use of a mobile telephone, and the offence extends to a person supervising a provisional license holder.

There is a limited defence.

Penalty

A fine of £1000, or £2500 for goods and some passenger vehicles. Disqualification is discretionary and endorsement of three penalty points is obligatory.

Practical issues

The evidence will normally be in the form of a statement from a police officer. A fact analysis exercise may be valuable in determining the quality of that evidence. Questions that may be asked are: was the police officer driving when he made his observations; were there any obstructions to the officer’s view, for example head rests, tinted windows etc. What were the weather conditions and lighting like?

Companies

Many haulage companies provide mobile telephones for the benefit of their drivers. It may be sensible to stipulate in writing that a condition of use of these mobile telephones is that they are not used when driving. Each driver should be required to sign such a document as evidence that the employer has brought the issue to the attention of the employee. This will be good evidence if the employer is charged with a causing or permitting offence.

Young drivers

If you receive six penalty points within two years of passing your driving test, you will lose your license and will then have to retake your test.