A police officer has confirmed there is only 1 instance people can use their phone while driving. Sgt Owen Messenger, a roads policing officer with Devon and Cornwall police, regularly shares important advice alongside content creator, George on his @GeorgesCarMedia account.
In a recent clip to the TikTok account, Sergeant Messenger was asked how to "get away" with using your phone while driving on roads and motorways, and what rules surrounded a mobile phone.
He said: "So the basic way to look at it is you cannot use it whilst it's in your hand. And so anything that you do with it whilst it's in your hand is the offence.
"So that's even unlocking the screen or anything like that. You don't actually have to be using the phone just unlocking the screen is enough to be committing that offence.
"If you do absolutely need it for GPS or sat-nav or anything you can have it in the holder and you can use it for that. But what I'd say is if you're actually going to touch the phone or use it for anything other than the navigation, then pull over in a safe place and then you can go into the use of the phone to change where you're going to, or anything like that that."
Drivers who are caught using their phone while driving could receive six points on their driving licence as well as a £200 fine.
In the video, which was shared on TikTok, Sgt Messenger pre-empted comments from people asking about why police officers can use screens while carrying out their duties.
He said: "You know, the use of the mobile phone is one side of the offence, but you've also got not being in proper control of the vehicle.
"So if you're looking down changing your sat nav settings and you're not looking where you're going , that's not the mobile phone offence because it is in the holder... but it could be not being in proper control of the vehicle or even the due care offence because you're not looking where you're going.
"All our kit inside the car has to go through approval for us to be able to use it in the vehicle. There are different settings for when we're moving and when we are not moving.
He explained that every police car has two modes, single crew or double crewed. The single mode restricts access to what can be used on the system when the vehicle is moving, but if there are two people in the car more options are available for the passenger to use.
He added: "So all our kit inside of here is Relatively simple to use and doesn't affect our view of the road."