Using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in the UK, and it carries a £200 fixed penalty and 6 penalty points on your licence (gov.uk). “Using” means holding the device in your hand for anything at all – a call, a text, changing a song, checking a map, even glancing at a notification. It is still an offence when you are sat at red lights or crawling in a jam. And if you passed your test in the last two years, those 6 points revoke your licence outright.
That last part is why I drum this into every learner from the passenger seat. Most people know phones and driving do not mix. What catches them out is how wide the definition of “using” now is, and how brutally the maths works for a brand-new driver. Let me walk you through exactly what the law says, what counts, what does not, and how to stay the right side of it.
What is the penalty for using a mobile phone while driving?
The penalty for holding and using a phone while driving is a £200 fine and 6 penalty points (gov.uk). It is usually issued as a Fixed Penalty Notice, so you would not necessarily go to court – the points and the fine land on your licence directly.
Here is the important nuance: 6 points is the fixed penalty. If the police think it is a bad enough case, or you dispute it, it can go to court instead. At court the maximum fine rises to £1,000, or £2,500 if you were driving a lorry or a bus, and the court can disqualify you from driving altogether (gov.uk). The endorsement code that goes on your record is CU80, and it stays on your driving licence for 4 years from the date of the offence.
| Route | Penalty | Notes | |—|—|—| | Fixed Penalty Notice | £200 fine + 6 points (CU80) | The standard outcome for most drivers (gov.uk) | | Prosecuted at court (car) | Up to £1,000 fine + 6 points, possible ban | For contested or more serious cases (gov.uk) | | Prosecuted at court (lorry/bus) | Up to £2,500 fine + 6 points, possible ban | Higher maximum for large vehicles (gov.uk) | | Passed test within last 2 years | Licence revoked | 6 points hits the New Drivers Act limit – see below | | Not in proper control (separate offence) | £100 fine + 3 points, or up to £1,000 at court | Can apply even with the phone in a cradle |
One extra trap: there is a separate offence of “not being in proper control of the vehicle”. If you are prodding a phone that is sitting in a cradle and the police decide you did not have full control or a full view of the road, they can hit you with that instead – a £100 fine and 3 points, rising to a £1,000 fine at court (gov.uk). So a mounted phone is not a free pass to fiddle with it.
What counts as “using” a mobile phone at the wheel?
Since 25 March 2022, “using” a handheld phone means holding it and doing anything with it (gov.uk). The 2022 change closed an old loophole where drivers argued they were not “communicating” – so it now explicitly covers:
- Making or taking a call
- Texting or messaging
- Taking photos or videos
- Scrolling through a music or podcast playlist
- Playing a game
- Browsing the internet or social media
- Checking a map or a notification
It does not matter if the phone is offline, in flight mode, or has no signal. If it is in your hand and the engine is on, you are committing the offence. The rule also covers any handheld device that can send or receive data – a sat nav, a tablet, even a games console – not just a phone (gov.uk).
The bit that genuinely surprises people: the law applies when you are stationary in traffic. Stopped at a red light, queuing on a slip road, or supervising a learner from the passenger seat – if the engine is running, the phone stays out of your hands. It even applies when a stop-start system has cut the engine at a junction, because you are still “driving” in the eyes of the law.
Can I use my phone as a sat nav while driving?
Yes, but only if it is fixed in a proper cradle or mount, set up before you move off, and you do not touch it while driving (gov.uk). The phone must not block your view of the road, so mount it low on the windscreen or on the dashboard, not slap in the middle of your eyeline.
“I was only following a map” is not a defence for picking the phone up. The instant it is in your hand, it is an offence, sat nav or not. Programme your destination while you are safely parked, then let it talk to you. If you genuinely need to change the route, pull over somewhere safe and legal first. This is the single most common “but I wasn’t really on my phone” situation I hear, and it does not wash with the police.
When can you legally use a handheld phone while driving?
There are only a few situations where holding the phone is allowed, and they are narrow (gov.uk):
- Calling 999 or 112 in a genuine emergency – and only when it is unsafe or impractical to stop.
- Making a contactless payment in a vehicle that is not moving, for example at a drive-through or a toll barrier.
- Using the device to park your vehicle remotely with a manufacturer’s app.
- When you are safely and legally parked with the engine off. Waiting at lights or sitting in a traffic queue does not count as parked.
Outside those, if you want to make a call on the move, it has to be genuinely hands-free: Bluetooth, voice control, or the car’s own system, all set up before you drive. Worth knowing – even fully hands-free, the police can still stop you and pursue a careless driving charge if they judge you were too distracted to be in proper control (gov.uk). Hands-free is legal, but it is not a shield if your driving suffers.
How do police prove you were using a phone while driving?
In practice, the evidence is almost always an officer seeing you do it – a patrol crew, a motorbike officer filtering through traffic, or an unmarked HGV cab looking down into cars (gov.uk enforcement is largely officer-led). Their witness account of watching you hold and use the phone is itself evidence, and it is usually backed by a body-worn or dashcam recording.
Do the police have to prove it beyond doubt? If your case goes to court, yes – the prosecution has to prove the offence to the criminal standard, and simply holding the phone is enough; they do not need to show what app you had open. But most cases never reach that point because a Fixed Penalty Notice is offered first. If you accept it, you accept the points. If you are certain you were not using the phone, you can decline the notice and contest it in court, but that is a decision to weigh carefully. Phone-detection camera trials have run in some force areas, and other drivers’ dashcam footage submitted to the police is an increasingly common route to prosecution too, so “no one saw me” is a risky assumption.
Can you take a course instead of getting points for using a phone?
Usually no. Unlike a low-level speeding offence, using a handheld phone is not routinely offered as a course-instead-of-points deal – the standard outcome is the £200 fine and 6 points (gov.uk). Some forces may occasionally offer an educational course for a related lower-level matter such as driving without due care, but you cannot rely on it for a handheld phone offence, and there is no national scheme that lets you swap the 6 points for a course. Treat the 6 points as the default and plan around avoiding the offence entirely.
Why 6 points ends a new driver’s licence
Here is the part that turns a bad day into a full reset. Under the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, if you build up 6 or more penalty points within 2 years of passing your first practical test, the DVLA revokes your licence (gov.uk). A single mobile phone offence is 6 points – so it does it in one hit.
Revoked does not mean a short ban. It means you are back to a provisional licence and you have to pass both the theory test and the practical test again before you can drive unaccompanied. Everything you worked for, gone over one text at the lights. For a fully licensed driver the totting-up threshold is 12 points in 3 years before a ban, so a phone offence uses up half your allowance in one go – two offences and you are disqualified. If you want the full picture of how the point system stacks up, we cover it in our guide to how penalty points work on your licence, and it is worth knowing before you are anywhere near a test.
This is exactly why I treat phone discipline as a habit to build before you pass, not after. If you have got into the way of checking your phone at lights while you are learning, that habit does not vanish the day you pass – it just becomes far more expensive.
Building the right habits from day one
Distraction is not only a legal problem, it is a test problem. Losing your view of the road, drifting, or missing a hazard because your attention wandered is the kind of thing that shows up as a serious fault. It sits right alongside the errors we flag in the most common reasons people fail the driving test: poor observation, weak junction awareness, and not being in proper control. An examiner wants to see your eyes up, both hands working, and your full attention on the road – the same standard the law expects the day you drive alone.
Good instruction bakes this in. On an intensive course we get you driving in enough real traffic that “phone away, focus on the road” stops being a rule you remember and becomes automatic. If you are refining your driving and preparing to pass, our Advanced intensive driving course builds exactly that kind of calm, distraction-free control, and you can see how our courses work if you are weighing up your options. We get you test-ready and road-ready – you book your own test with the DVSA, and we make sure you have the skills and the habits to drive safely once that licence is in your hand. For more on nailing it on the day, our guide to passing your driving test first time pulls the key points together.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the penalty for using a mobile phone whilst driving?
Holding and using a phone while driving is a £200 fixed penalty and 6 penalty points on your licence (gov.uk). If the case goes to court, the maximum fine rises to £1,000 (£2,500 for a lorry or bus) and the court can also disqualify you. The offence is recorded with endorsement code CU80, which stays on your licence for 4 years.
How do police prove you were using a phone while driving?
Enforcement is mostly officer-led – an officer sees you holding and using the phone, and that observation, usually backed by body-worn video or dashcam footage, is the evidence. To secure a conviction at court the prosecution only has to prove you were holding and using the device; they do not need to show which app was open. Footage from other drivers’ dashcams and phone-detection camera trials are also used.
Do the police have to prove you were on your phone?
If you contest the charge in court, yes – the prosecution must prove the offence to the criminal standard, but the bar is simply that you held and used the device while driving. Most cases are dealt with by a Fixed Penalty Notice first; if you accept it, you accept the 6 points and £200 fine. You can decline and contest it, but you would want to be confident in your account before doing so.
Can I use my phone for GPS while driving?
Yes, as long as the phone is secured in a cradle or mount, is set up before you set off, does not block your view of the road, and you do not touch it while driving (gov.uk). Picking it up to look at the map, even briefly, is an offence. Set your route while parked and let the voice directions guide you.
Can you use your phone at traffic lights or in a queue?
No. The law still applies when you are stopped at red lights, queuing in traffic, or when a stop-start system has cut the engine (gov.uk). If the engine is on, the handheld phone stays out of your hands. The only handheld uses allowed are a 999 or 112 emergency call when it is unsafe to stop, a contactless payment while stationary (such as a drive-through), remote parking, or when you are safely parked with the engine off.
What happens if you get caught using your phone in your first two years of driving?
You lose your licence. Under the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995, 6 or more penalty points within 2 years of passing your first test means the DVLA revokes your licence (gov.uk). A single phone offence is 6 points, so it triggers this on its own. You revert to a provisional licence and must pass both the theory and practical tests again before driving unaccompanied.