{"id":4539,"date":"2025-12-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uat.locautorent.com\/blog\/how-to-avoid-a-fine-for-using-a-cell-phone-while-driving\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T13:50:26","slug":"how-to-avoid-a-fine-for-using-a-cell-phone-while-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/blog\/how-to-avoid-a-fine-for-using-a-cell-phone-while-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"How to avoid a fine for using a cell phone while driving"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-wrapper wp-block-core-heading-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New Highway Code: What Article 173 Says About Mobile Phone Use While Driving<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-wrapper wp-block-core-paragraph-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#13;\n<strong>Article 173 of the Highway Code<\/strong> expressly prohibits \u201cthe use while driving of radiotelephone devices, smartphones, laptops, tablets and similar devices that require the driver to remove their hands from the steering wheel even temporarily,\u201d which also includes the use of headphones.<br>&#13;\nIn other words, <strong>the driver may not hold the phone<\/strong> or manipulate any device that distracts them from driving. This means that not only making calls, but also writing messages, checking social media, searching for an address or watching videos constitutes a violation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-wrapper wp-block-core-heading-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fine for Using a Mobile Phone While Driving: Amounts and Licence Suspension<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-wrapper wp-block-core-paragraph-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#13;\nAccording to paragraph 3-bis of Article 173, the fine for using a mobile phone while driving ranges from \u20ac250 to \u20ac1,000 for a first offence. In addition to the monetary penalty, <strong>the driver\u2019s licence may be suspended from 15 days to 2 months<\/strong>. If a second offence occurs within two years, the consequences become more severe: the fine ranges from \u20ac350 to \u20ac1,400 and the suspension can last up to 3 months.<br>&#13;\nThese measures aim to discourage dangerous behaviour and reduce accidents caused by digital distraction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-wrapper wp-block-core-heading-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fine for Mobile Phone Use Without Being Stopped: Is It Possible?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-wrapper wp-block-core-paragraph-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#13;\nMany drivers wonder whether it is possible to receive a <strong>fine for using a mobile phone while driving without being stopped<\/strong>. The answer is yes. Law enforcement can now use surveillance systems and technological devices capable of detecting the violation even without an immediate stop. In such cases<strong>, the fine will be sent later<\/strong> via notification to the driver\u2019s home. This increases the effectiveness of checks and makes it essential to always maintain proper behaviour while driving.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-wrapper wp-block-core-heading-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Driving While Using a Phone: Penalties and Licence Return<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-wrapper wp-block-core-paragraph-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#13;\nIf a licence suspension is ordered, the notification may sometimes arrive late due to technical or postal reasons. However, the suspension takes effect from the moment the licence is physically taken away, and <strong>it can be returned starting from the 16th day<\/strong>.<br>&#13;\nTo assist citizens and avoid delays, it is possible <strong>to book an appointment at the Prefecture offices to retrieve the licence.<\/strong> This procedure is particularly useful when the notification times exceed the actual suspension period.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Highway Code: What Article 173 Says About Mobile Phone Use While Driving &#13; Article 173 of the Highway Code expressly prohibits \u201cthe use while driving of radiotelephone devices, smartphones, laptops, tablets and similar devices that require the driver to remove their hands from the steering wheel even temporarily,\u201d which also includes the use of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"Penalties for using a cell phone while driving | Locauto","_seopress_titles_desc":"Using a mobile phone behind the wheel and the related penalties are now among the most relevant issues for road safety. With the new Highway Code, penalties have been tightened to protect road users and combat digital distraction. Let\u2019s take a detailed look...","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-rules"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4539"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6684,"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4539\/revisions\/6684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.locautorent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}