Flegg loses mobile driving court challenge

Mobile phone charges are often irritating - even more so when you're a former Liberal National Party minister fighting one in court.

One-time housing minister Bruce Flegg appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday having pleaded not guilty to using a mobile phone while driving.

The ex-politician was pulled over on the side of Moggill Road at Chapel Hill, in Brisbane's west, early in the morning of April 23 after picking up his phone while at a set of traffic lights.

He had argued he'd only grabbed the gadget to glance at a diary alert through a clear window on the mobile's case, thereby not operating it.

But this was rejected by Magistrate Barry Cosgrove, who decided in favour of a broad interpretation given the relevant law was crafted to ensure safety.

Outside court, Dr Flegg said he accepted the court's decision and had received an impartial hearing.

"What they've found is that if you look at the time of your watch it's not an offence, if you look at it on your phone it is," he said.

Within the hearing, audio was played of the moment Dr Flegg was pulled over after two officers noticed his glowing Samsung Galaxy's screen.

In the recording, Constable Wanda Beckett can be heard asking him why he was using the device, to which Dr Flegg replies: "I'm just having a look at my diary.

"So it's three points for looking at my diary?" the incredulous doctor asks after being issued with an infringement notice.

Const Beckett, who was in an unmarked police car with a colleague, said Dr Flegg didn't notice the lights had turned green because he was busy handling the phone.

But the 61-year-old denied scrolling on the screen, noting it was "quite frightening" to be pulled over on his way to a morning gym session.

He also stipulated his phone's case was not black, as noted by police, but "bright green with sparkles".

He was fined the initial $341 and court costs, with Magistrate Cosgrove noting demerit points may take a greater toll on the physician than a financial imposition.