Court of Appeal: it is allowed to operate a smartphone in a car holder while driving

The court in Leeuwarden has decided that operating a smartphone placed in a holder is not equivalent to holding a telephone. Last year, a driver was fined 239 euros for this, which is therefore not justified.

The Leeuwarden-Arnhem Court of Appeal concluded on appeal that a motorist may use his telephone if it is in a telephone holder. The law states that the phone may not be ‘held’. Operating a telephone while it is in a holder cannot be established, according to the judge, that the motorist was really holding the telephone. The driver cannot therefore be fined under Article 61a of the Traffic Rules and Traffic Signs Regulations, because that Article is based on ‘holding’ the telephone.

The appeal case had ended up in court after a motorist was fined 239 euros last year for operating his phone while it was in a holder on the dashboard of his car. The subdistrict court ruled that the term ‘detention’ had to be interpreted broadly and imposed a fine. The subdistrict court found that holding also extends, for example, to clamping the telephone between ear and shoulder and tying the telephone to the wrist, as has been determined in previous judgments.

The Public Prosecution Service itself appealed against the ruling of the subdistrict court, in order to clarify whether operating a smartphone in a holder is actually equivalent to holding it. The court in Leeuwarden has now determined that this is not the case. The driver who was fined also appealed; he does not have to pay the fine as a result of the ruling.

Spokesperson Ernst Koelman of the Public Prosecution Service tells the AD that the ruling is not a disappointment, because there is now clarity for users and agents. Motorists can still be fined if they operate a phone that is in a holder, but that must be because they exhibit dangerous driving behaviour. The fine can then be issued on the basis of Article 5 of the Road Traffic Act, which prescribes that it is prohibited to cause danger on the road.