Mobile phone driving offence sentence

The published fixed penalty is £200 and 6 points. GOV.UK's using a phone page is the place that describes the hand-held rule, including sat navs and other devices. This page's court guideline is 'Use of mobile telephone while driving', in force from 4 August 2008. In court the ordinary starting point is a Band B fine, raised to Band C where there is a high level of traffic or pedestrians, or for a repeat offence. The court can disqualify instead of imposing 6 points.

On £500 a week net, Band B starts at £500 and Band C starts at £750. The fixed penalty of £200 is therefore cheaper than the ordinary court starting point on that income, which is why people who simply want the matter over often accept the offer. People who dispute that the device was hand-held, or who already sit near 12 points, have a different decision.

A phone in a cradle that you glance at is not the same case as a phone in your hand. The law GOV.UK describes is about holding the device to use it while driving. This site does not invent extra examples of 'holding'. If the notice says you were using a hand-held device, the published penalty is the one on this page. If you dispute the facts, that is what a hearing is for.

The fixed penalty is £200 and 6 points. The ordinary court starting point is a Band B fine, £500 on £500 a week, still with 6 points unless the court disqualifies. Higher seriousness starts at Band C, £750 on the same income. The court maximum on this page is £1,000, or £2,500 for specified passenger and goods vehicles. Going to court is not a 50 per cent discount. It is a hearing on the facts and on sentence.

Six points is the number that revokes a new driver. A driver inside 2 years of their first pass who takes this fixed penalty on a clean licence is revoked. A driver who already has 3 points and takes another 3 from a different offence is at the same threshold. This offence's published fixed points are 6, not 3, so a new driver cannot 'take the hit' the way some people talk about a 3 point speeding ticket.

Six points also uses half of the 12 point totting total. A driver who already holds 6 live points and then accepts this offer is at 12 and facing a totting disqualification of at least 6 months, unless the court finds exceptional hardship. That is a reason some people ask the court to consider a short ban instead of 6 more points, which the guideline says the court may do.

CU80 is the endorsement code for a breach of requirements as to control of the vehicle, such as using a mobile phone. DVLA publishes 3 to 6 points and a 4 year stay from the date of the offence. The current fixed penalty uses the top of that range, 6 points. The code counts towards totting for 3 years from the offence date, then stays visible on the record until 4 years from the offence.

Insurance questions are about unspent convictions, not about a universal 4 year declaration. No official source publishes a CU80 premium increase, so this page shows none. The Highway Code warns that premiums can rise considerably following a serious driving conviction. A phone endorsement is not drink driving, but it is still an endorsement you must not hide.

If you drive for work, 6 points can breach an employer's licence policy even when it does not tot you up. A van or taxi driver who already holds points from tyres or speeding can lose the job on the combined total. Tell the employer on the facts. Do not wait for the next licence check to surprise both of you.

GOV.UK's using a phone page is the source for what is and is not allowed with a device while driving. This sentencing page does not rewrite that law. The guideline behind the calculator is for the offence of using a mobile telephone while driving. If the facts are a hand-held device in use, the published penalty and the Band B or Band C starting points apply. If the facts are something else, this guideline may not be the right row.

Setting a sat nav, scrolling a playlist, or filming from the hand are the arguments people bring to a hearing. The notice will say what was alleged. A phone mount is no defence for picking the handset up. A work phone does not get a lower band. A passenger holding the phone is a different set of facts from the driver holding it.

Specified passenger and goods vehicles have a higher court maximum on this page, £2,500 rather than £1,000. That is a maximum, not a starting point. The starting point is still Band B or Band C. Commercial driving can also be why a prosecutor sends the case to court instead of offering the fixed penalty.

The Sentencing Council figures on this page are for England and Wales. Scottish and Northern Ireland courts use their own process. The underlying offence of using a hand-held device still exists, and a Great Britain licence still takes a CU80. Do not read Band B as a Scottish starting fine.

DVLA points, the 3 year totting clock and the new driver revocation rule still apply to a GB licence wherever in Great Britain the offence was committed. A Scottish CU80 still counts towards ${tot} points and still revokes a new driver at ${newPts}. Northern Ireland uses DVA. The code family is the same idea. The office is different.

Hire cars, company phones and foreign drivers on UK roads are not exempt. The driver of the vehicle is the person the offence attaches to. A foreign licence can still be dealt with through the UK process for the offence committed here.

The first myth is that it is still £100 and 3 points. The published out of court disposal on this page is £200 and 6 points. The second is that a new driver can absorb it like a speeding ticket. Six points is the revocation line. The third is that going to court will 'get it down to 3 points'. The guideline's published points are 6 unless the court disqualifies.

People also think a red light camera phone case is a PCN. It is not. This is a criminal endorsement, not a penalty charge notice. Another error is ignoring the notice because 'everyone uses a phone at the lights'. The lights are often the high traffic or pedestrian setting that raises the court band to C.

If you already sit on 9 live points, accepting 6 more is how totting happens. Ask the question before the deadline, not after the points are on the record. Exceptional hardship is a totting argument in court, not a reason to ignore a fixed penalty offer.