He answered, with the phone still mounted on the dash and on speaker. “They identified themselves as ‘the police’ [and asked] ‘why are you on your phone’.”
The driver’s response? “Well, I’m talking to you.”
He presumed the stationary police car spotted him as he drove past, then searched the car’s number plate to find his details, including phone number, as the registered owner.
The driver said the phone call was received while he was still travelling on the motorway at more than 80km/h. He’d never been called by a police officer before.
“It was quite baffling, being startled by having the police phone you while still driving. It was quite a shock.”
The police officer allegedly verified the driver by reading out his number plate and home address.
“I admitted it, yes, I did use my phone – it was in my line of sight, but where it is on my dash, it’s as much in my line of sight as the air con. It was confronting to say the least, but I gave my details.” A $150 fine arrived in the mail a few days later.
In comments to The Spinoff, a police spokesperson initially said that calling a motorist to discuss their driving was not standard practice. However, they later added that it was “not common” but, under certain circumstances, “police will occasionally contact registered vehicle owners to discuss driving behaviour”.
The spokesperson added: “In this instance, the officer involved would have been concerned enough to have contacted the driver via phone, as part of immediate follow-up actions”.
In response, the driver told The Spinoff it was more dangerous answering the phone and having a conversation with the officer than it had been adjusting his navigation. “[It’s] incredibly counterintuitive to potentially replicate a dangerous behaviour that they are trying to discourage,” he said.
Given the public messaging around distracted driving, the driver said he was “shocked that they would ring me while driving”.
The police spokesperson said they made “no apology” for targeting “high-risk driving behaviours”. According to the transport agency, it is permitted to use a mounted phone while driving – though the official advice is that it’s safer not to use it at all.
In follow-up comments, police claimed the driver had been holding his phone, and said the officer had mouthed to the driver to “get off the phone” when he passed by on the motorway. The driver disputed this and questioned how he would have been expected to see what a police officer was mouthing on the side of the motorway as he drove past.
Asked for further details on when a police officer might choose to interact with a motorist in this way, police declined to answer. “Appreciate that you have further questions, but we have said everything we are going to say on this matter.”
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