What is the fine for talking on my phone when driving?

South Africans are very attached to their phones. You see them in their cars at robots and stop streets, or in traffic, glancing down at their phones, texting, or conversing while they drive, phone clenched against the ear. This is extremely dangerous - did you know that this kind of distracted driving can be even more dangerous than drunk driving?

A few years ago, the City of Cape Town clamped down on motorists who were caught talking on their phones while driving. The phone was confiscated immediately and you had to pay a  staggering R5000 release fee to get your phone back. The same punishment was enforced for texting and driving, or just holding a phone in your hand while you're driving. This means that even though your car is completely stationary in deadlocked traffic, if the engine is running, you are not allowed to have your phone in your hand.

 

According to Arrive Alive, the law on smartphones when driving is as follows:

NO driver is permitted to use a hand-held communication device while driving, except for a land radio system. This includes a cell phone, microphone or other communication devices, per the South African National Road Traffic Act. In other words:

 

• You may use such a device ONLY IF it is NOT being held in your hand or with any other part of your body (e.g. it may NOT be gripped under your chin either).
   
• You may also not use the cellular phone at traffic lights even when the vehicle is not moving – if the engine is running you are considered to be driving.
   
• Transgressing the Rules of the Road includes taking photos, browsing the internet and participating on social media platforms when driving.
   
• Officials are NO LONGER exempted. They used to be in the past (if it was in the course of executing their official duties), but that exemption was removed from the Regulations a few years ago. So don’t let any traffic officer or metro police official try to tell you otherwise.

 

Here's what the National Road Traffic Act says:

(1) No person shall drive a vehicle on a public road—

(a) while holding a cellular or mobile telephone or any other communication device in one or both hands or with any other part of the body;

(b) while using or operating a cellular or mobile telephone or another communication device unless such cellular or mobile telephone or other communication device is affixed to the vehicle or is part of the fixture in the vehicle and remains so affixed while being used or operated, or is specially adapted or designed to be affixed to the person of the driver as headgear, and is so used, to enable such driver to use or operate such telephone or communication device without holding it in the manner contemplated in paragraph (a), and remains so affixed while being used or operated.

 

How much is the fine?

I contacted the SAPS as well as the Overstrand Traffic Department in the Western Cape. A fine of R1000 seems to be the going rate these days, to be issued on the spot. 

However, different metros may have different sets of rules, like the aforementioned phone confiscation and hefty release fee which was part of Cape Town's campaign to reduce road accidents. In 2019, Durban had a similar modus operandi, and would fine motorists R1500 for using their phones when driving. Also, it depends on whether the traffic official you encounter is corrupt or not. I can assure you, in the Western Cape you will be much worse off if you try to bribe a traffic officer!

If you don't have a Bluetooth kit for your car, now is the time to invest in one. With phones being more advanced and technology such as Bluetooth headsets and earpods being readily available and not that expensive, there is no reason why people should still make themselves guilty of this very dangerous transgression.