Driver who overtook police on M6 while appearing to watch YouTube is fined

Charis Whittaker-Lowers was seen driving south along the M6 in wet conditions on the evening of August 21 last year near junction 15 for Stoke.

Cannock Magistrates Court was told that at an officer from Staffordshire Police was in their marked BMW with the cruise control set at 70mph when they were overtaken by a VW Up.

In a statement, the officer said they were passed "quickly and not gradually; it was moving considerably faster than all of the other vehicles around it at the time", leading them to believe the driver was speeding.

The officer said then then moved to repass the VW: "As I did so, both myself and my colleague witnessed a mobile phone in a cradle in the centre of the windscreen of the vehicle. The screen was illuminated and was playing a music video of some sort of description.

"The format was that of a YouTube video - with the top half of the screen having a music video and the bottom half white with black text which would he the comments."

The officer told the court that after seeing the video being played for around three seconds, he then pulled in front of Whittaker-Lowers, and told her to stop.

"I explained that having a video visible to her when driving is an offence to which she replied she wasn't aware, despite holding a full UK driving licence and should be aware of the highway code and regulations around mobile phone and video use," the officer continued.

The officer cautioned Whittaker-Lowers, noting that she told officers "I wasn't watching a video" in response to being accused of TV or film entertainment being visible to the driver, before she signed the caution.

"She said she was trying to get back to Wolverhampton train station in 24 minutes to ensure her friend got the last train home," the officer added.

In her mitigation, the 26-year-old said she was the driver but said there was no television or cinematographic apparatus visible to her, adding: "The only thing visible to myself at the time was a sat-nav (which is perfectly legal to use on a motorway) and the motorway itself I was travelling on".

She continued: "I was travelling from north (Manchester) to Wolverhampton late at night, and like a majority of motorists on the motorway, was using a sat-nav to direct me - as understandably I had no ability to get myself from one city to another without guidance, especially whereby it's pitch black outside.

"I was not watching any form of telematic video apparatus of any kind."

Whittaker-Lowers also said she felt intimidated by the two male officers, saying that as a young black female she had been taught to comply and cooperate with police officers if she feels vulnerable in order to get away safely, and then challenge any penalty later on, as she 'strongly denied' the allegation.

In her defence, Whittaker-Lowers also there was no physical evidence and a witness in her car and the offence "never occurred".

Nevertheless, magistrates found Whittaker-Lowers, of Cheltenham Close, Wolverhampton, guilty of using a motor vehicle on a road when television receiving / cinematographic apparatus was visible to the driver.

They find her £220 and ordered her to pay £90 costs and an £88 surcharge.