Most drivers have wondered at some point whether there is any wiggle room when it comes to using a phone behind the wheel. According to Sergeant Owen Messenger, a road safety officer with Devon and Cornwall Police, the answer is clearer than many people assume. Messenger regularly teams up with content creator George on the TikTok account @GeorgesCarMedia to share straightforward explanations of traffic laws, and one of his recent videos has gotten a lot of attention. The core message he keeps coming back to is deceptively simple but frequently misunderstood by drivers.
In the video, Messenger was asked whether there is any way to use a phone during a drive without breaking the law. His response cut straight to the point. “The basic rule is that you must not hold the phone in your hand. So anything you do with it while holding it in your hand is considered an offense,” he explained. What surprised many viewers was just how far that rule extends, going well beyond texting or making calls.
Messenger went on to clarify that even the most minor interaction with a handheld phone crosses the legal line. “That includes even just unlocking the screen. You don’t have to be calling or typing; just unlocking it is enough for you to be committing an offense,” he emphasized. This means that glancing at a notification and tapping the screen to dismiss it, all while holding the device, is enough to land a driver in serious trouble with the law. Drivers caught doing so in the UK can expect to receive six penalty points on their license along with a fine of $250.
@georgescarmedia Police Officer Owen Explains what the rules for using your mobile phone while driving are in 2026? ##police##roadsafety##driving##phones##mobilephones ♬ original sound – GCM
So what is the one situation where phone use is actually permitted? Messenger addressed this directly in the same clip. “If you need it for navigation, you can place it in a holder and use it for that purpose,” he said, adding that even then, drivers should pull over safely if they need to adjust the route or interact with the screen in any other way. The mount must properly secure the device, and the driver cannot hold it at any point during the journey. This narrow exception is the only scenario in which having an active phone screen in your line of sight is considered lawful while behind the wheel.
Messenger also took the opportunity to address a question that frequently pops up in the comments of his videos, namely why police officers themselves appear to use screens and devices while on patrol. He acknowledged that the distinction matters and has a real legal basis. “Using the phone is only part of the issue; there is also the question of whether you have the vehicle under full control,” he said. He pointed out that even a phone properly mounted in a holder can become a distraction problem if the driver is looking down at it instead of watching the road, which could still be considered careless driving. All equipment in police vehicles must go through a formal approval process, and each patrol car operates in two distinct modes depending on whether the vehicle is moving and whether one or two officers are present. “All of our equipment here is simple to use and does not obstruct our view of the road,” Messenger concluded.
Distracted driving is one of the leading causes of road accidents in the developed world, and mobile phones have become one of the primary culprits in recent decades. Studies consistently show that using a handheld phone while driving produces a level of impairment comparable to driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. The reaction time of a driver talking on a handheld phone is significantly slower than that of a sober, focused driver, and the risks multiply further when drivers are texting or scrolling through apps. Many countries have responded by progressively tightening their laws, with some jurisdictions now treating any handheld phone use as an automatic disqualifying offense for newer drivers. Hands-free technology, voice commands, and dashboard-integrated systems were developed in large part to give drivers access to navigation and communication without taking their hands off the wheel or their eyes off the road. Despite all of this, enforcement remains a challenge, and educational efforts like Messenger’s TikTok collaborations play an important role in helping everyday drivers understand exactly where the legal boundaries lie.
Have you ever been unsure about what counts as illegal phone use while driving? Share your thoughts in the comments.
