A Sydney woman was handed a $387 fine when she was caught with her mobile phone in her hand — but it wasn’t just her phone, the device was still mounted in the hands-free cradle at the time.
The confused act prompted NSW Police to publicly clarify the road rule, which allows drivers in the state to touch their phone if it is secured in a cradle.
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The Seven Hills woman was heading northbound on Old Windsor Rd at Northmead in her silver Mercedes when patrolling officers spotted her at 5.30pm on Sunday.
“She was holding the phone cradle, with the phone, in her left hand, using GPS navigation to return home,” NSW Police said.
“When police approached the driver, the phone was still being held as seen while driving.”
Fully licensed drivers in the state are allowed to “touch” their phone to make or receive a phone call, to use audio playing functions, and as a driving aid such as GPS navigation, according to Transport for NSW.
Police said that once they pulled over the Seven Hills woman, she told them: “Yeah because the cradle is broken, what can I do? I need GPS.”
They bluntly clarified the rule in a social media post exposing the incident on Monday: “Um, no — you can’t hold the phone cradle with the phone in it.”
The woman was fined $387, and because double demerit points applied during the long weekend, the “frustrated” driver accumulated 10 of them.
Transport for NSW explains on its website that phone cradles must be attached to cars in a specific way.
“The cradle (also known as a mounting) must be fixed to the vehicle in a manner intended by the manufacturer,” it said.
The rule is more clear-cut for learner, P1 and P2 drivers — those caught laying even a finger on their phone, regardless of where it’s mounted or what it is being used for — will be penalised.
Traffic legislation is often ultimately enforced on a case-to-case basis, but there have been pushes to clarify mobile phone rules in South Australia where the state is rolling out its first mobile phone detection cameras, 7NEWS understands.
SA Police called it a “grey area” and superintendent Darren Fielke told 7NEWS, “It’s always a challenge for legislation to keep pace with technology.”
“There are a number of changes that we are looking at in relation to the mobile phone detection cameras.”