Using A Smartphone To Pay At Mcdonald's Could Land You £1,000 Fine

[Deleted member 3411]

Hmmmm. Now I just saw this on the net from a newspaper and they are claiming that using your phone to pay for your McDonald's at a drive thru could land you with a £1,000 fine and penalty points. The point being that you are using your phone and touching the screen whilst driving. Now I am not a believer in phone use while driving I have hands-free on my car and never touch my phone, but there is something about this article that bothers me. The use of a mobile phone is illegal on the public highway. Since when has the road past the window, car park or area that a McDonald's is on been a public highway? If you can be fined £1,000 and given penalty points for handling your phone on private property that means they can prosecute you for touching your phone whilst parked in your own garage.....

 

[MickeyBlueBalls]

Rules only apply to drivers on a public highway. Newspapers talking bollocks as usual.

 

[Brumcouple2013]

You are classed as driving if the engine is running and the keys are in the ignition. So turn engine off and remove keys. Apply hand brake and leave the car in neutral.

 

[Pearls]

This is madness x

 

[MickeyBlueBalls]

I understood that traffic laws now apply in public places i.e. Car parks etc so theoretically you can be prosecuted!

Wrong, myth. It's privately owned and only if the owner is signed up to a scheme is it enforceable.

 

[MickeyBlueBalls]

Not entirely a myth mickey

Most of the provisions apply on all roads throughout Great Britain, although there are some exceptions. The definition of a road in England and Wales is ‘any highway and any other road to which the public has access and includes bridges over which a road passes’ (RTA 1988 sect 192(1)). In Scotland, there is a similar definition which is extended to include any way over which the public have a right of passage (R(S)A 1984 sect 151(1)).

It is important to note that references to ‘road’ therefore generally include footpaths, bridleways and cycle tracks, and many roadways and driveways on private land (including many car parks). In most cases, the law will apply to them and there may be additional rules for particular paths or ways. Some serious driving offences, including drink-driving offences, also apply to all public places, for example public car parks.

And as a right of way I'd agree but since McDonald's is not a public or private right of way then a prosecution would be extremely difficult to bring. The only way any fine would be imposed would be through a civil sanction and since a large portion of MacDonald drive through customers are boy/girl racer wannabes who are their regular customers then there's not a commercial entity in the world that would take such action. Otherwise I'm all for the law on public roads but not when it's a two bit newspaper attempting to scaremonger people by deliberately targeting a high profile organization.

 

[Pearls]

They just do it to fund they're holidays and expenses

 

[MickeyBlueBalls]

They just do it to fund they're holidays and expenses

And to inflict consumer fear into a financially unstable economy. The law is written in such a way to provoke misinterpretation. I work on such laws daily and spend most of my time running seminars to de-clutter and convert them to how they should be written .....in basic English.

 

[MickeyBlueBalls]

Wait till they start to unwind eu law lol

I think that can only be a great thing since most eu law is a beautocratic nonsense! Trade agreements are the suffering party to this unfortunately but I'm leaving it there as there's been enough scare mongering here for one night.

 

[MickeyBlueBalls]

Sorry but also important to note, the law has been in place for years and it is mainly the punitive measures that are new and not the law for which it is based upon.

 

[fizzers]

My car has a 'stop and start', therefore at traffic lights in neutral with the handbrake on and the engine off. Am I breaking the law if I use my mobile?

 

[MickeyBlueBalls]

My car has a 'stop and start', therefore at traffic lights in neutral with the handbrake on and the engine off. Am I breaking the law if I use my mobile?

Yes, I'm afraid so as you're car is still technically in use on a public highway.

 

[fizzers]

Yes, I'm afraid so as you're car is still technically in use on a public highway.

Just as well that I always turn it off before I drive anywhere

 

[Pearls]

Yes, I'm afraid so as you're car is still technically in use on a public highway.

You not highway police

 

[meet_the_fockers]

You could park up..
And walk through the drive through i guess

 

[MickeyBlueBalls]

You not highway police

Not since 2003.

 

[AutumnH]

Hmmmm. Now I just saw this on the net from a newspaper and they are claiming that using your phone to pay for your McDonald's at a drive thru could land you with a £1,000 fine and penalty points. The point being that you are using your phone and touching the screen whilst driving. Now I am not a believer in phone use while driving I have hands-free on my car and never touch my phone, but there is something about this article that bothers me. The use of a mobile phone is illegal on the public highway. Since when has the road past the window, car park or area that a McDonald's is on been a public highway? If you can be fined £1,000 and given penalty points for handling your phone on private property that means they can prosecute you for touching your phone whilst parked in your own garage.....

So it seems this story comes from The Express and The Daily Star newspapers...
I'd like a hefty dose of salt with that order, please.

 

[mrclouse]

They do do these things to get funding i remember when they turned one of the main roads going into Newcastle city center from public to a one-way buss and taxi the month it opened they were earning about £300 ever 5 mins none peek time

 

[Pearls]

Not since 2003.

I knew it