It is both very stupid and a criminal offence to drive whilst using a hand-held mobile phone. The reason is obvious: it is distracting and dangerous.
On 19th August 2017 Ramsey Barreto was driving past the aftermath of a serious accident in Ruislip when a police officer saw him holding up his phone and using it to film the scene. The officer pulled him over. Footage filmed through the car window was present on Barreto’s phone. Exactly what he said to the officer is not a matter of official record, but it seems to have been something to the effect of ‘I’m very sorry officer, you’ve got me bang to rights.’
Barreto was charged with ‘driving a motor vehicle while using a hand-held mobile telephone.’ It seemed a clear case, deserving, if anything, of heavier punishment than if he had been making a phone call: the act of filming would inevitably have taken his eyes off the road.
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