The Traffic Commissioner is tightening the response to mobile telephone use whilst driving. The Statutory guidance is updated to reflect that as of the 1st March 2017 the penalty for using a mobile telephone whilst driving was increased from three penalty points to six penalty points to reflect the severity of the conduct.
The Guidance also introduces a new starting point for when one CU80 (mobile telephone) offence and 1 speeding offence is committed in a commercial vehicle. This is a 6-week suspension.
Now I am not sure how to read this. Is it saying if you get caught breaching the mob phone regs and speeding in a wagon you get a 6 week suspension or is it saying if you get a speeding offence in a truck you get a 6 week suspension also.
You can get 6 penalty points and a £200 fine if you use a hand-held phone when driving. You’ll also lose your licence if you passed your driving test in the last 2 years.
You can get 3 penalty points if you don’t have a full view of the road and traffic ahead or proper control of the vehicle.
You can also be taken to court where you can:
be banned from driving or riding
get a maximum fine of £1,000 (£2,500 if you’re driving a lorry or bus)
As the holder of an HGV licence you can almost certainly expect to be summoned to a Driver Conduct Hearing by the Traffic Commissioner. This applies even if the mobile phone offence took place in your private car.
When deciding what action to take against your licence, the Traffic Commissioner will consider many factors, including:
The legal guidance set out by the Senior Traffic Commissioner
The circumstances of your offence
Any past offences and/or bad conduct
Any action you have taken since the incident
As of 2017, the Traffic Commissioner guidelines stipulate that the “starting point” for a single mobile phone offence in a commercial vehicle, with no previous adverse conduct history is a 4 week suspension of your professional licence. This goes up to a 12 week suspension if there is more than one such offence.
I was told by the DVSa solicitor that I would have to see the t/c in person & that I would get a months suspension of my lisense ( vosa, company compliance officer etc told me the same ) , I just got a letter from t/c saying she deemed it a caution .
So it may be the law , but the t/c must have some power to pass her own judgement after considering the facts
Nb pity she wasn’t one of the judges in court as I doubt she’d of fined me £776
The TC’s responses aren’t set in stone, but I would expect you could very easily get some level of suspension for being caught on a mobile behind the wheel, but with speeding there’s going to be a much broader range of things to be considered. I once got flashed by a Gatso and got a fine and points but there was no TC involvement.