DRIVER admits using mobile phone after footage captured by Essex Police’s Commercial Vehicle Unit
A driver who denied using his mobile phone behind the wheel has admitted the offence in court after being presented with clear video evidence captured by Essex Police’s Commercial Vehicle Unit (CVU) during an Operation Tramline road safety patrol.
Mohammed Rahman, 48, of Wellesbourne Road, Birmingham, originally pleaded not guilty to using a handheld mobile phone while driving on the M25 at Thurrock on 17 April last year.
But at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 11 March, footage recorded by specialist CVU officers was shown to the court. The video clearly captured Rahman holding a mobile phone in his left hand while driving. Officers also noted that the handset displayed an open mapping app, despite the vehicle being fitted with an integrated in car navigation system.
Rahman disputed the officers’ account and maintained that he was not using a handheld device while driving but he changed his plea to guilty after watching the footage. He was issued 6 penalty points, a £597 fine and ordered to pay costs in excess of £300.
Using a mobile phone while driving is one of the Fatal Four offences – alongside speeding, drink/drug driving and not wearing a seatbelt – which are known to contribute directly to serious and fatal collisions.
PC Tom Gower, part of the Roads Policing Unit said: “This footage is irrefutable. It clearly shows the driver holding and using a mobile phone while travelling on one of the busiest stretches of motorway in the country.
“Mobile phone use behind the wheel is not a minor lapse in judgement – it’s a dangerous choice that puts lives at risk and one of the offences that regularly leads to people being killed or seriously injured on our roads.
“Thanks to the specialist capabilities of our Commercial Vehicle Unit and Operation Tramline, dangerous drivers like this are being identified and held to account.”
Operation Tramline is a long running road safety initiative delivered in partnership with National Highways. Using an elevated HGV supercab allows officers to see directly into vehicles and detect offences that would otherwise go unnoticed.
