---

Road Safety Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 25:"Page 23, line 42, at end insert ““except in circumstances where a motor vehicle is stationary and the engine is switched off””" The noble Baroness said: My Lords, we return to the subject of the use of mobile phones in motor vehicles, on which we enjoyed a stimulating debate in Committee. While I have no doubt that all noble Lords will join in the condemnation of those operating hand-held mobile telephones while driving a motor vehicle—as do I—it is important not unnecessarily to criminalise those drivers who use their mobile phones inside their vehicles but while not actually driving. In Committee, my noble friend Lord Hanningfield illustrated the point with the example of a senior social worker who was stuck in a traffic jam but felt unable to make an important telephone call for fear of committing an offence. The current wording of this clause would render any driver of a vehicle that is not moving—even if the engine is switched off—who uses their mobile phone to make an urgent call, guilty of an offence that would result in a mandatory three point endorsement on their driving licence. The amendment is designed to address this absurd situation by providing a clear stipulation of the circumstances where a person is able to use their mobile telephone without fear of being penalised. When we last debated this issue, the Minister highlighted a number of difficulties inherent in the specific wording of the amendment. He spoke at length about the problematic distinction between being in control of a vehicle and driving a vehicle, and drew our attention to the peculiar fact that there is no definition before the law of what constitutes ““driving””. However, I believe that if you take the keys out of the car and put them on the back seat and are therefore unable to drive, you would possibly be considered not to be driving. The Minister also referred to the difficulties that stem from the advent of new technologies that automatically switch one’s engine on and off in pursuit of fuel economy. While I concede that the Minister cannot accept the amendment as it stands, that does not preclude the possibility of producing a form of words that would satisfy noble Lords. I simply cannot believe that there can be no room for this type of sensible flexibility within the legislation that we have all agreed to be so necessary. I also remind the Minister that he gave the Committee an assurance that he would look at the issue again. I very much hope that he may be able to tell us tonight that he has done so and that there is a way out. While there may be technical difficulties in the way in which the amendment is worded at present, something needs to be done. There must be some leeway to enable people to make a brief emergency telephone call if they are, for example, stuck in a traffic jam and are very late picking up a child from school. None of us holds any brief for people who drive round with one hand on the steering wheel and the other clamping a phone to their ear while trying to turn a corner. That is not what we are saying. Our amendment would cover someone, in extremis, who took the decision that they had to make a phone call, stopped somewhere safe to make it and then moved on. If we do not have a provision of this sort that eases us through, the legislation will be deficient in this aspect. I beg to move.