4.3 Hand-Held Mobile Phones (Section 37A)

4.3 Hand-Held Mobile Phones (Section 37A)

Quick Answer: Cap. 51:02 section 37A — reproduced in the GPF Learner/Driver Theoretical Programme — says you shall not drive a motor vehicle on any road while using a hand-held mobile telephone or a similar hand-held device. The person supervising a provisional-licence holder is under the same ban. Exceptions are hands-free use (or equipment that leaves either hand free), an emergency communication to the disciplined forces, ambulance service, or a registered medical practitioner, and the operator of an authorised emergency vehicle performing official duties. First offence GY$5,000–$10,000; second or subsequent GY$10,000–$15,000.

Alcohol (4.1–4.2) takes your judgement. A hand-held phone takes your hands and your eyes on a left-hand-traffic road where you must keep left, watch the off-side for overtaking, and still see pedestrians at a crossing. Guyana's answer is a dedicated section inserted immediately after section 37 of the Principal Act.

Where section 37A sits

The Theoretical Programme prints the amending text under the heading Restrictions on the use of hand-held mobile telephones while driving. It is not a courtesy poster. It is statute copy candidates are expected to know: who is banned, who is excepted, what "hand-held" means, and the fine bands.

Section 37A has five subsections. Learn them as a stack.

Subsection (1) — the driver

Subject to subsection (3), a person shall not drive a motor vehicle on any road while using:

• (a) a hand-held mobile telephone; or
• (b) a similar hand-held device.

The verb is drive, the place is any road, and the object is using the device. Holding the phone to your ear on Regent Street, thumb-typing a message while rolling along the East Coast, or cradling the handset against your shoulder so both hands appear to be on the wheel is still using a hand-held phone if the device had to be held at some point (subsection (5)(a)).

Subsection (2) — the supervisor of a learner

A person shall not use a hand-held mobile telephone or a similar hand-held device while supervising the driving of the holder of a provisional licence.

This is the line many candidates miss. Guyana requires a provisional holder to learn under prescribed conditions (L plates and the competence-test path in Chapter 2). The accompanying supervisor is there to take over and to watch the road. Subsection (2) bans that supervisor from hand-held use even though the supervisor is not the person gripping the steering wheel. A learner on L plates plus a supervisor scrolling through messages is two people failing the same safety duty. The exception list in subsection (3) applies to subsection (2) as well as to subsection (1).

Subsection (3) — the three exceptions

Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to:

Hands-free is the everyday exception. Bluetooth, a properly used speakerphone, or a fitting that leaves either hand free sits here. If you still have to hold the device at some point during the communication, subsection (5) treats it as hand-held and (a) does not save you.

Emergency is narrow. The call must be for the sole purpose of communicating an emergency situation, and only to three named classes: the disciplined forces (in Guyana, that is the police, the Guyana Defence Force, the fire service, and related disciplined services), the ambulance service, or a registered medical practitioner. Calling a friend to say you will be late, calling a workplace, or filming the scene for social media is not exception (b).

Authorised emergency-vehicle operator on official duty is for the person actually operating that vehicle in the performance of official duties — police, fire, or ambulance work — not for every passenger in a car with a red stripe.

There is no "I was stopped at a red light with the engine running" exception printed in section 37A, and no "the message was shorter than one minute" exception. Do not invent them.

Subsection (5) — what counts as hand-held

The programme's definition is the exam's definition:

• A mobile telephone or other device is hand-held if it is required to be held at some point during the course of making or receiving a call or performing any other interactive communication function.
• Similar hand-held device means a device other than a two-way radio which performs an interactive communication function by transmitting data.
• Interactive communication function includes: sending or receiving oral or written messages; sending or receiving facsimile documents; sending or receiving still or moving images; or providing access to the internet.

Worked meaning on Guyana roads

• Holding the phone to speak, even for a few seconds at a junction in Georgetown, is hand-held use while driving.
• Holding the phone to send a WhatsApp or SMS is sending a written message — listed in subsection (5)(c).
• Holding the phone to take or watch a video is still or moving images.
• Holding the phone to open a browser or an internet map is providing access to the internet.
• A two-way radio is carved out of "similar hand-held device." That matters for some hire-car and minibus operations that still use radio dispatch. It is not a free pass to hold a smartphone. A smartphone remains a mobile telephone under subsection (1)(a).

If the device must be held at some point during the communication, the whole communication is treated as hand-held. Putting the phone down after you have already typed the number does not rewind the offence.

Subsection (4) — the fine bands

A person who drives on any road in contravention of subsection (1) or (2) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction:

• First offence: a fine of not less than five thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars (GY$5,000–$10,000).
• Second or subsequent offence: a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars nor more than fifteen thousand dollars (GY$10,000–$15,000).

These are ranges. The court sets the figure inside the band. Do not replace them with the drink-drive GY$7,500, and do not say a first phone offence costs you your licence for a year — that one-year loss is the drink-drive second rung in 4.2, not section 37A as printed in the programme.

Subsection (4) is triggered by driving in contravention of (1) or (2). The supervisor who uses a hand-held phone while the provisional holder is driving is inside (2). Both people need to know the band.

Why the rule is strict on left-hand-traffic roads

Keeping left, giving way at STOP and YIELD, and watching the right for traffic already on a roundabout all need both attention and hands. A driver who looks down at a screen on the East Bank, or a supervisor who is on a call instead of watching the learner, is doing the opposite of the defensive-driving duty to recognise a hazard, understand the defence, and act correctly in time. Section 37A is the statutory expression of that duty for phones. It sits in the same study package as the drink-drive poster because both are about a driver who is no longer fully in the driving task.

Exam traps

• The ban covers the driver and the supervisor of a provisional holder, not the driver only.
• Hands-free is allowed; holding the device at some point is not.
• Emergency calls are only to the disciplined forces, ambulance service, or a registered medical practitioner, and only for an emergency situation.
• A two-way radio is excluded from "similar hand-held device"; a smartphone is not.
• First phone fine GY$5,000–$10,000; subsequent GY$10,000–$15,000 — not GY$7,500.