UK drivers could be fined £200 and land six penalty points for using this phone in the passenger seat of the car.
While the phone driving laws in the UK are well publicised, many motorists won’t be aware that they could also be penalised when not driving.
If you are supervising learner river from the passenger seat and using your mobile phone you could face the penalty.
The fine is the same as if you were driving.
While instructing a learner driver you are legally responsible for the car, which is why the road law applies to you.
This makes its illegal to touch your phone while in the car if you are an instructor and applies to both professionals and friends and family teaching someone to drive.
Rodney Kumar, a spokesperson for IAM RoadSmart, explained the law to Express.co.uk: “It is a little-known fact that if you are supervising a learner driver, that you are breaking the law by using a mobile phone while he or she is driving.
“A supervisor needs to take his responsibility seriously and realise that a learner needs to monitored at all times – they need to be able to alert the learner in an emergency situation at a moment’s notice.
Mr Kumar state that driver supervisors must be completely committed to being alert of the driver at all times or not tutor a driver at all.
“If a supervisor isn’t committed enough to the task and wants to talk on a mobile phone, they should not be tutoring a learner.
“Or at the very least, get the learner to pull over and switch the engine off.”
Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake, the road safety charity added in a comment to Express.co.uk: “Road awareness and hazard perception is crucial to safe driving.
“Learners haven’t yet proven their competence in this area and so it is vital that a supervisor remains undistracted and focused on the road.
“When driving, even a momentary lapse in concentration can have truly devastating consequences.”
Fines for mobile phone driving offences increased in 2017 from £100 to £200 and the penalty point endorsement also doubled to six.
This is enough to get motorists that have been driving for less than two years an instant driving ban.
