Traffic Offence, Officer Said I Was Playing My Phone with Two Hands (VIC)

froddoog on 06/12/2020 - 14:24
Last edited 08/12/2020 - 16:26

Hi all,

This is my first traffic offence, I was driving home in the CBD area. 2 officers on motorbike looked at my car from the left side (according to my brother, he was the passenger).
They asked me to park and said that I was using my phone with my two hands. But I wasn't, I told him I took my phone out from my pocket (this was during red light) to put in on my cup holder, but I wasn't playing with them. Then they said that doesn't make sense, it was all recorded in their camera I was playing with my two hands.

I didn't know I wasn't supposed to touch my phone even during red traffic light no matter what the reasons are, I just read it up once I got home.
Is there anything I can do? Or I have to pay the fine?

I'm so disappointed at myself.

EDIT:

Okay, I didn't know before posting this will gather so many camps. There is left and right.

I know that I wasn't supposed to play with my phone while you are driving be it at a traffic light.
Somehow why I posted here is that I wanted to get an opinion on what I can do if from my not so great memory that I didn't play my phone with my two hands as the officer said. I just took out my phone and maybe the raise to wake function was up and the screen lighted up and at that moment the cop saw it and thought I was playing with my phone.

As I have written, I have been driving for ages and this is my first offence. I followed the rules like mad, never speed, or drive recklessly etc. I am against people playing their phone while driving as I know that it would cause many things. My uncle once went through an unfortunate event when someone was playing their phone while driving. So we know in our family we do not want to put people in that situation.

As for the law, I have broken I did touch my phone while in a traffic light, but I wasn't playing with it I just took it out and place it at cupholder this I admit and I will sure pay the fine.

What I don't get is that, as some have said that you can legally pass your phone to a passenger. That for me is a distraction as well right? So I don't get it why they picked on like the small things I did tell the truth I wasn't playing my phone with my two hands, just took it out and put it in the cupholder.

Yea, of course, I will move on people :D hahaha you will feel so shitty for few days but oh well like some of you have mentioned, it is not worth the time to think it over and over, I have better things to do. We make mistake, learn from it and move on.

and why I posted it here, because I wanted an opinion on it as this is my first offence and where else would I go because literally, I'm on this website every single day looking for bargains.

Thank you for those that have shed some lights onto this topic and most of you that have read this thread as well as written up long suggestions, I am grateful and hope this will be a good reminder for all of us that they are watching us everywhere and every time hahaha

P.S. If you know how I can stop people from commenting that would be great, I guess we can end it here :-)

Automotive

closed Comments

  • Drakesy on 07/12/2020 - 16:06

    Unfortunately no touchie touch of the phone is allowed unless it's secured to the car via a mount.

    OP you're going to have to cough up sorry.

    • froddoog on 07/12/2020 - 16:42

      Yea I know :( what a mistake and super unlucky.

  • Willco88 on 07/12/2020 - 16:52

    Cop the fine and move on thanks end thread

    • froddoog on 07/12/2020 - 18:25
      +1

      ermmm, it would be a good discussion isn't it? I will pay the fine when I'm found guilty.

      • Euphemistic on 07/12/2020 - 18:39
        +1

        It’s a fine, by definition you have already been found guilty. Still have the right to contest though.

        • froddoog on 07/12/2020 - 18:40

          Yea that's true because I did touch my phone :/

  • baskinghobo on 07/12/2020 - 18:48

    That sucks OP. I would be pretty mad too if that happened to me. I wish some cops would enforce the spirit of the law a bit more instead of the letter of the law but you did commit a driving offence according to the law so there's no way you will win this in court.

    • froddoog on 07/12/2020 - 18:51

      Yeap after many comments I have read through, I did commit a driving offence. Oh well, got to live and learn from our mistakes.

  • tee123 on 07/12/2020 - 19:46
    +2

    I tried to listen to these clown like responses. OP if you dont realise that these zombies dont have any mental freedom left and I am here to tell you; you did absolutely nothing wrong. You are a responsible adult human being and dont ever feel even the slightest dissapointment in yourself because of two robotic revenue hungry policeman. Your at a red light you are more than welcome to hold your phone or scratch your behind as long as you are not engaging into the activity which I believe you didnt. Most people on this site are conformed cogs in this neat little system and they are quick to defend their own oppression. Fight the case they have nothing on you the legal system is full of loopholes and it is very hard to prove guilt on a mature adult who just relocated his uncomfortable phone to the cup holder.

    • Euphemistic on 07/12/2020 - 20:50

      welcome to hold your phone

      Except that you aren’t.

      • tee123 on 08/12/2020 - 13:52

        Lol. You are a mindless robot.

    • [Deactivated] on 07/12/2020 - 23:07
      -2

      Go back to your hidey-hole.

      After you experience a truly life-changing event after a P-plater fcked it up, say the same.

    • froddoog on 08/12/2020 - 16:12

      I mean I know that I wasn't supposed to play my phone. But I really have no idea why did I even took my phone out for and just the right timing the cop was beside my car. I guess it was unlucky. But what I don't get is that, why is it okay to pass your phone to the passengers and that also counts as a distraction

  • bmerigan on 07/12/2020 - 20:50

    Is there a recording of you using 2 hands to play with the phone? That would look quite different to 1 hand getting it out of your pocket and putting it beside you immediately.

    • Yummy on 08/12/2020 - 08:07

      The question is from which pocket?

    • cameldownunder on 08/12/2020 - 10:09

      My neighbour handed the phone to his son on the passenger seat, and a cop saw it. He got fined.
      He took it to court, and the fine got cancelled. Did cost him $500 legal fees, and a day off to go to court.

      • sauce2k on 08/12/2020 - 13:51

        that's more than the fine..

        • Yummy on 08/12/2020 - 15:42

          Missed out the RRP.

        • bobbified on 08/12/2020 - 17:23

          It's the demerit points that matter.

  • Orico on 07/12/2020 - 22:09
    -3

    My mate is an uber driver and I see the cops try and get him all the time even when he is off-duty. He just says he is an uber driver and needs to operate his phone and keeps arguing with the cops until they let him go.

  • [Deactivated] on 07/12/2020 - 23:04

    As a motorcycle driver, I absolutely hate when someone touches their mobile phone, either at the traffics light or not. It only takes one mistake to make my life miserable.

    If you did it at the traffic lights, you will be doing it during other, on the road, circumstances, 100%! No doubts about it.

    So many idiots on the phone, on the road. Can't wait for driverless cars. Yes, you will have crashes, but they will be few and far in between and after every single one of them, a lesson will be learnt, and algorithms improved.

    STAY OFF YOUR PHONE!

    • SnoozeAndLose on 07/12/2020 - 23:22
      +2

      To be Honest, Driver on the bike is not match different, they also do things that to make other life miserable.

      People make mistake if not phone can be due to many other things.

      it is dangerous to ride on the bike, to be fair, driving in a car is just safer when an accident happens, so to avoid serious injury I suggest you don't ride on your bike, idiots are everywhere, you don't know when and you don't know where. what is your plan B if you being hit by a car?

      There are also so many idiots on the bike on the road, not just car driver.

      • [Deactivated] on 08/12/2020 - 16:13

        I agree with what you said, however, the same thing applies to other modes of transportation as well, walking, bike ride, scooters, etc. I don't think driving is the answer to staying safe but possibly a more responsible and sensible approach to anything road-related, including a major one, mobile phones/other distractions.

        Idiots are everywhere, I never said that car drivers are solely responsible or to blame but we do share a road and when we do, least we can do is watch and pay attention.

        • SnoozeAndLose on 08/12/2020 - 16:32

          I would say just expect what you don't expect while driving and riding would save your ass one day.

          An accident is something that you did not expected.

  • paloverde88 on 08/12/2020 - 00:03
    +1

    so I once just push the volume button up without even looking ( you must be some spastic not to know where the volume button on a phone is even with your eyes close ) as I stream bluetooth to my car and that was 5 demerits plus nearly $400 fine - the cop accused me of looking and touching my phone. I have 2 more years to go to have that 5 points taken off- literally the moron who wrote this legislature touching without looking is ok, it's when you are looking that's where the danger is. There is the volume up and volume down and touching the volume up or down button of a handset is not going to cause any loss of concentration - if you cannot even do that then you are considered unable to multi task in the office. But oh don't they love to cherry pick if you were doing something else you are expected to be able to juggle no less than 3 things at the same time but when it comes to being on the road suddenly you are an imbecile unable to even do the simplest of tasks - 2 at a time - even for few seconds.
    All I know is the person who killed 4 children and the person who killed 4 cops in 2 separate unrelated accidents are both not using any mobile phone: point proven.

    • cashews on 08/12/2020 - 10:02

      The problem is that people who are using their phones try to use the exact same excuses.

    • cameldownunder on 08/12/2020 - 10:14
      +1

      No point proven: just because 2 accident happens without phone involved does not mean, using phones are safe. Your logic if flawed.
      Also, chances are that if you use the up and down volume ( why not use the car volume ) you are very very very likely to "quickly" skip to the next song at some point. Something that cant be done without looking at the phone.
      From your context ( Bluetooth, car and attitude ) I suppose you are just past the green P, with maybe 5 years driving experience.
      Once you get to 30 years driving experience you can talk.

  • CheeryCheapskate on 08/12/2020 - 10:18

    Not good news but I say pay the fine and get on with life. It's a hard lesson but you aren't supposed to touch the phone at anytime when the car is on (that's why they've designed hands free and voice control). This will also ave you the headache of trying to contest, legal fees, etc.

  • Janko on 08/12/2020 - 11:39

    Divide the fine by the times you've touched it and not got caught and it won't feel so bad.

  • T1OOO on 08/12/2020 - 12:41
    -1

    Breaks law.
    Admits.
    Posts here??

    Also strange with this one the force is.

  • Nomad2233 on 08/12/2020 - 13:04
    +2

    In general I feel Australia has a bad habit of knee jerk reaction laws, any use of phones in cars is dumb though.

    • bobbified on 08/12/2020 - 17:30

      Every bloody politician wants to look like they're doing something. This no-touching crap came about because they didn't know what to do about the number of people who were texting while driving. So they did what they do best and simply banned it. Whenever something bad happens with a particular object/item, they'll try ban it. Shits me to tears.

  • macrocephalic on 08/12/2020 - 13:50

    If the police have video of you using your phone then you could go to court and plead for mercy, or suck it up and pay the fine. If you legitimately were simply taking the phone from your pocket to put into the cup holder then you could take it to court to have the magistrate review it. Those are basically your options.

    • froddoog on 08/12/2020 - 16:02

      Yeap this is what I wanted to know, whether I can ask for it to be reviewed. Because I have never been to court my entire life.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/12/2020 - 16:19

      If the police DON'T have video of you using your phone then you could go to court and plead for mercy, or suck it up and pay the fine.

      I wouldn't suggest you try and suggest to the magistrate that the cops are lying, not sure it if will go in your favour.

  • [Deactivated] on 08/12/2020 - 17:12

    I took my phone out from my pocket (this was during red light) to put in on my cup holder

    Pay the fine. You're using your phone while driving

  • baker bob on 08/12/2020 - 17:14

    The number 1 lesson you must learn here is to never ever admit you did anything wrong and ask them for the evidence if they claim they have it. The fact you told them you did touch your phone has ended your chances of getting off.

    I have crossed double lines close to a traffic light to turn right (turned right 2-3 cars back due to traffic jam), cop pulled me over, "do you know what you did wrong?", "nothing officer, legit right hand turn, does your video show otherwise?" no come back, didnt have me on camera.

    Point is, if they have you playing on your phone with two hands and you are not, call them on it, don't tell them they are half right. Especially relevant for speeding where a lot of cops delete the radar reading before they pull you over and without it they got nothing on you.

    • Drewbo on 08/12/2020 - 19:06

      Why would they need to have you on camera?

  • Moderatorscrimshaw on 08/12/2020 - 19:13

    Thread closed by OP's request

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