Can you TOUCH Your Phone in a Cradle?

An ongoing debate: Can touch your phone in a cradle?
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[doOfr]

Phone cradles are a god-send, not having to hold my phone means I hardly spill any whisky now whilst driving!

[ajcball]

Modern cars with touchscreen only controls clearly make keeping full attention on the road more difficult. Wish we had some legislation forcing some basic functions (heating, volume etc) to be physical.

[lunamonetmonroe]

Agreed. So long as what you’re doing on your device while in a cradle doesn’t require extended attention/time, then it should be fine to do. It would be similar to pressing a button to put the window up, turn on the ac/heat, or put the seat back. If it takes longer than most simple functions, I always assume it’s not safe.

[AC-ummk]

Does anyone remember when you had to drive while holding a road atlas on your steering wheel? 😂

[hearmenow]

Notice how the government website isn't helpful in telling you it's ok to use a sat nav in a cradle, it only tells you what you can't do, to deliberately leave some ambiguity.

[craigchamberlain]

This is fantastic to hear because using my modern iPhone as a sat nav in a hands free cradle is 1000% less distracting compared to using my 15 year old car’s own sat nav. So now I can confidently use my phone as a sat nav, using voice where possible, to minimise any potential distraction.

What I’d like to know is whether my Smart Watch is legal to use when driving since it is not mounted in a cradle but is also not hand held. I personally find it easier to just hold my watch up to my mouth and ask my voice assistant to send a message or instigate some action or other, rather than engage with my phone. Again, this is MUCH less distracting than using anything touch oriented, AND I believe is safer than pulling in to the side of a trunk road, or exiting a motorway in order to perform the same action.

Thanks Daniel, your (non)-advice is very much appreciated.

[nigelhancock]

About 10 years ago, I had a near miss on the M25 despite the phone being in a cradle and using Bluetooth hands-free. It made me realise that even the distraction of being on a phone call and having to think about my replies was enough to make me realise that I wasn't paying enough attention to driving. From that moment on, I've never used the phone in any way whilst driving. That's my personal choice and, in all those 10 years I've never missed a call that you could in any way describe as truly urgent!

[hairyairey]

Worth mentioning that the contactless payment on private land wouldn't have been an offence at one time. However the definition of the Highway was extended to any private land ordinarily open to the public. Like a Supermarket car park. The reason for this was car cruising. Be just as careful on such private/public land.

[losttrout]

Thank you. A neighbour of mine had his in a cradle. He was stuck in traffic by a roundabout and his phone was beeping due to low battery. He plugged it in (not removing the phone from the cradle), and a roadside policeman ran over, pulled him in and gave him a ticket. That was during covid - he's yet to be given a court date.

[RicardoPetrazzi]

This was a really good clear run down of the regulations. Thanks...

[Wojciech]

I'm positively surprised by this. I watched a video of a YouTube copper advising you're not allowed to touch your phone at all when driving, including when you're using it for satnav. No matter what.
This shows cops don't read regulations and misinform the public.

[ashhammond]

Second comment. As a cyclist, these rules should be extended to cyclists as road users. I’ve often seen cyclists using phones and swaying around the road and being dangerous.

[rickconstant]

Virtually all new vehicles sold in the UK for at least 10 years have the capability of bluetooth, hands-free use of a phone, yet you can still see huge numbers of people driving these while using phones hand-held. Some people will never learn.

[WillHest]

Really appreciate this. I was paranoid to reject calls or relaunch a crashed SatNav app. Which I’d argue is more distracting not to, rather than a couple taps on a phone screen. These new cameras they’re rolling out to catch people on their phones added to the paranoia.

100% agree phone shouldn’t be interacted with unless absolutely necessary.

[markchip]

In practice, hitting "answer" and "end" is no different to hitting any of the other buttons on a car dash, many of which do need you to look down for a second or two!!
Any more than that is more "use" than is safe.

[MrAarongilbey]

Thanks BBB as always!

There should be penalties for people using their phone when crossing the road, not paying due care and attention to other road users.

Likewise people using their phone when cycling or on e-Scooters too.

[TheLastCrumb.]

Next you won’t even be able to change the radio station

[geoffvalenti]

Thanks Daniel. Clear and concise information about a previously confusing topic.

[AnnathePiana]

Thanks for this, its very informative! I often drive to places I'm not familiar with, and I use the Maps app on my phone which is mounted in a cradle. I usually need to drag the map to give me an idea about what manoeuvres I'll be making in the near future, and I'm glad to hear that I can do this without worry.

[MrTytalus]

A good overall clarification hitting all the reasons, Legislation and HC, not just what people think it means.