A deleted tweet shows how even police are confused by the law on SatNavs

Yesterday, the Greater Manchester Police tweeted out the above picture claiming that that ‘the only legal place’ to put a SatNav is ‘the bottom right hand side of your windscreen… everywhere else is illegal.’ It was quite untrue. Deliciously, the picture showed a suspicious mark on the middle of the car windscreen that looked very much as if the police themselves had been holding their SatNav in the wrong place (see enlargement below).

When this evidence was widely shared, and mocked, the Tweet was deleted without comment. A shame, because it’s a great example of how the absence of any modern law on driving, mobile phone and SatNav use is leaving even police confused about the law.

Greater Manchester Police have been in touch to admit that the tweet was incorrect (statement below) but they cannot be blamed for the confusion. They have been instructed to crack down on motorists, but they have not been given any legal guidance as to what constitutes an offence.