is it illegal to have a pda on in the car?

[Guest eggedd2k]

in addition to tomtom in the car I'm keen to have movies running - for traffic jams etc. whilst I'm not fussed about using tomtom I was a little concerned about having movies running just in case it was illegal and the police happen to see it.

any views?

[Guest rickyburke]

if u have a monitor displaying movies or tv and its viewable by the driver its illegal, even if the driver isnt watching it, if he can see it, its a no go.

[Guest mcwarre]

Never mind illegal. It is pretty stupid from a saftey perspective isn't it? ;)

[Guest]

Reading this post in the fast lane of the M6, I laughed so much I nearly dropped my pint!

Only kidding! 8-[ ;) :D 8)

[Guest eggedd2k]

yeah fair enough. how does the law look at sat nav then - sureley that's not dissimilar from a screen showing moving images?

[Guest 73bugcab]

As already stated any display showing moving images which can be viewed by the driver is an offence. Also an offence if it is located so as to allow other drivers to see. These are punishable only by a fine and no points. The regulations make exceptions for screens which are navigation aids or showing the status of the vehicle.

[Guest Samsonite]

the default CoPilot screen is 'Driver Safety' and only gives written instructions to the next manouvre... sounds sensible enuff till you get within spitting distance of the roundabout and then it swaps to a 2D top down image of the roundabout/turn with a moving arrow for your position...

as for other people seeing it, its pretty difficult not to mount these things where others cant see it unless you have it below the dash - and then you're looking down for too long rather than glancing sidewards where you can still see the red lights (getting closer and bigger all of a sudden!)...