A former chairman of the Bermuda Road Safety Council was convicted of using a hand held device while driving, when he appeared in Magistrate’s Court this morning.

Dr Christopher Johnson, defending himself, argued that as a doctor responding to an emergency the law allowed him to use his cell phone while driving.

The call had taken place on Harbour Road in Paget on July 4.

Dr Johnson claimed he was on his way to see a patient, and was checking the directions to the home on his phone.

However, Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo said the action amounted to using the cell phone, and while he could not be challenged that as a doctor, he was responding to a medical emergency “he could have momentarily moved into a parking lay-by. He did not.”

Mr Tokunbo said: “I find under the circumstances that he is guilty.”

He fined the doctor $500 and gave him five demerit points.