Taxi Driver Online

In the current debate of driving and using phones what is the legal position for taxi drivers using smartphones/Pda's to accept jobs, communicate with control etc whilst driving.

As long as the PDA is in it's cradle/holder I can't see any issue.

The announcement by the Gov is merely an increase in the penalties, not a change of law.

There is a Statutory Instrument on TDO somewhere that basically exempts us from getting into trouble if we playing with fixed units, or hand-held mikes.

Although we aren't exempted in respect of 'Careless Driving', so we should all be careful.

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IDFIMH

Statutory instrument

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032695.htm

This is the instrument that was issued in 2003,I believe it may have been overridden since then.

It's still up in the air round here with the above. Some years ago a driver got pulled up and hit with 3 points and a £100 fine after a copper pulled up at the side of him at some traffic lights, he seen him accept a job and read the information on his screen. He tried to appeal it but lost in court. A PDA is essentially a phone and a job received is a text message.

If they want you they will get you

i can hit accept with my hands on the steering wheel

maybe they should have auto-accept on the sytems

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most