Filming an accident while driving: this action can cost you dearly on the highway

The Drôme gendarmerie has confirmed that 109 drivers will be fined for filming or photographing, with their phones in hand, an overturned truck on the A7 motorway . While this procedure is legal, it remains questionable.

The gendarmes did not stop the vehicles concerned at the time: the infraction was visually noted by the soldiers present during the operations to lift the heavy goods vehicle. It is important to remember that a vehicle, even when stopped in traffic jams, is legally considered to be in circulation: the use of a hand-held telephone by the driver therefore remains prohibited, in accordance with article R412-6-1 of the Highway Code . This infraction only concerns drivers, not passengers.

In practice, it is the vehicle registration document holder who will receive the penalty notice at their home address. As long as they do not expressly acknowledge the offense (by paying the fine or confessing to the facts), they cannot be criminally convicted and therefore do not risk having their points deducted. If they deny having committed the offense, they are only liable for the payment of the fine as financial liability, unless they prove that they were not driving that day, in which case they will not have to pay any penalty.

In conclusion, even if the fine procedure is legal, it remains easily contestable, particularly in the absence of formal identification of the driver.