parapilot Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 After many years of a clean licence I got pulled today for taking a call on my phone while driving :( gutted, but I know its wrong so fair cop. Was an ARV to, must have been bored. One thing I did find interesting, they made me get my phone, took the number, network etc, then radioed the number to control room, she then said you will get a call now from a withheld number don't answer. It rang, then the control issued a log number over the radio with ref to it!! Any traffic cops know what that was all about?? The name check come back I was a firearm owner so we had a good chat in the end, and they were nice just a shame it was under them circumstances!! Fingers crossed they offer a course and not just points. They said that could be an option but its upto who ever makes the desicions. If I do get a course do I need to put it on my renewals??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byjovecarruthers Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 It was so, at court, they have more chance of proving you were using your phone. They've created an audit trail that proves your telephone was with you and operating immediately after they stopped you having witnessed you using a hand held telephone. If you'd hidden your phone and denied using it then it would've been your word against theirs. If it's a single officer conducting the stop it's worth chancing it for less law abiding citizens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Pop into your local car bits shop motormania - halfords or whatever, see how much the blue tooth hands free kits are, a few less than £50. billy bargain. or you can go higher, still cheaper in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fella Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 After many years of a clean licence I got pulled today for taking a call on my phone while driving :( gutted, but I know its wrong so fair cop. Was an ARV to, must have been bored. I don;t know where people get this notion of bored police officers driving round all day and the instant cure for boredom is to try and save someone's life by issuing them a ticket for a road traffic offence. Maybe they were just trying to save your life and enforce the law? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I remember the days before the law changed and I drove all the time whilst using a mobile phone along with the rest of the population. It's a miracle we're all alive to tell the tale. Indeed, I'm pretty sure that I could hop in a car tomorrow and have a conversation with a passenger or have another conversation by picking the phone up or making a blue tooth call and without crashing. No lives were at risk or people harmed in making this post. True story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootgun Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Fingers crossed they offer a course and not just points. They said that could be an option but its upto who ever makes the desicions. If I do get a course do I need to put it on my renewals??? They haven't offered any to me,i got 3 points and £60 fine straight away, and as far as i'm aware, those courses are only for speed related offences, speed awarness course they call it if i'm not wrong... I remember the days before the law changed and I drove all the time whilst using a mobile phone along with the rest of the population. It's a miracle we're all alive to tell the tale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegasus bridge Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I personally find it more distracting to have the kids in the car than making a call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Just remember, that the physical act of raising a piece of plastic to your ear (i.e. your phone) makes a conversation (which might have been face to face, passenger to passenger or even by Bluetooth) worth £60 to the government Who new that the physical act of raising a piece of plastic to the ear was so dangerous and turned us all into dangerous drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Agreed, it's a ridiculous situation really. Just remember, that the physical act of raising a piece of plastic to your ear (i.e. your phone) makes a conversation (which might have been face to face, passenger to passenger or even by Bluetooth) worth £60 to the government Who new that the physical act of raising a piece of plastic to the ear was so dangerous and turned us all into dangerous drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 The crime of talking on a mobile phone whilst driving is a government revenue raising master piece and PR coup. I am amazed at how many people don't give it a little more thought. Granted, texting at the wheel is beyond moronic because the eyes are more off the road than on it, but hey, we're not talking about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 (edited) Indeed, there is no difference from puffing on my vape and talking to my passenger. Texting is different though, the same as trying to read a map whilst driving for instance. The crime of talking on a mobile phone whilst driving is a government revenue raising master piece and PR coup. I am amazed at how many people don't give it a little more thought. Granted, texting at the wheel is beyond moronic because the eyes are more off the road than on it, but hey, we're not talking about that. Edited March 13, 2014 by Penelope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I think it depends on the type of call you take as to how distracting it is. A 'what do fancy for dinner love' being far less distracting than a work call where one has to think. I find having a talkative passenger more distracting than a phone call. Especially if they are oblivious to a challenging driving situation and keep banging on. Sometimes this results in a left turn Clyde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fse10 Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I think it depends on the type of call you take as to how distracting it is. A 'what do fancy for dinner love' being far less distracting than a work call where one has to think. I find having a talkative passenger more distracting than a phone call. Especially if they are oblivious to a challenging driving situation and keep banging on. Sometimes this results in a left turn Clyde. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chady Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Your lucky hgv drivers get an instant two week ban and a possibility of seeing the traffic commissioner who then can technically remove your licence. 3 points is not that bad just be in your best behaviour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildrover77 Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 (edited) I got pulled on the A1 two weeks ago for driving while using a mobile phone. They said I would get a warning if I just admitted to it, which was tempting, except for the fact I was not using my phone and have blue tooth anyway. After 15 minutes of them describing how they had watched me using my phone and throwing it on the passenger seat when they went by and encouraging me to just admit it they gave up and let me go. What was that about? Edited March 13, 2014 by wildrover77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lampwick Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 A good friend of mine rolled his van last weekend whilst using his phone. Closed the road for two hours, fire crew to get him out, ambulance to ship him off for a major head injury, three police cars to manage the situation! He's lucky to be alive and lucky he didn't hit anyone else. Lesson learnt and an expensive one to boot. Bluetooth all the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneshot1979 Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I was bored out of my tree the other week doing my HGV CPC, any drivers here will sympathise with me on this, and thought I'd start an argument with the lecturer by asking why its illegal to use a mobile but not CB ? "Ah well, Yeh, The um, errrh, see the thing is" The best answer I could get from him was that the police, fire brigade, coastguard etc etc all use CB and it would create a two tier system blah blah blah. To which I retorted " so if I plug a charger in with a curly lead on it into my phone and finish every sentence with ROGER, I'm all legal then eh ?. The jury's still out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
station Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 Indeed, there is no difference from puffing on my vape and talking to my passenger. Texting is different though, the same as trying to read a map whilst driving for instance. Or eating a sandwich - discreetly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 It isn't illegal to use a mobile phone in the car, you just need to fit a hands free kit. Personally I honestly don't care if people want to risk their own lives by doing stupid things but I've seen the outcome of this one more than once. Probably the worst case was a moron in a BT van tearing down a narrow country lane with a phone held to his ear, when I go round a blind bend a quarter of a mile down the road the van is embedded in the side of a school bus full of screaming little kids. The van driver was out in the road, ignoring the plight of the kids and still on his mobile phone, how I didn't take it from him and fit it where the sun don't shine I still can't believe. You can tell who the phone fumblers are quite often, the weaving vehicle or the one that has to leave 100 yards between it and the vehicle in front in a traffic queue, lane switching without using mirrors. Without a doubt using the phone can be more distracting than talking to somebody who is in the car with you but then you still get the plonkers who can't chat in the car without continually looking at the person in the passenger seat. I'm mainly against all the petty legislation out there but this one I'd personally see hammered day in day out by the police. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I think that anybody caught using a Mobile whilst driving should be publicly flogged and then have their assets seized-the officer in charge of the investigation should then get a free weeks leave-you people have no place in our society where decent rapists, muggers and thieves are trying to get on with their work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aris Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 (edited) Personally I think it should be illegal to smoke and drive too. Bluetooth hands free should be a standard item on all new cars. Edited March 13, 2014 by aris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I was bored out of my tree the other week doing my HGV CPC, any drivers here will sympathise with me on this, and thought I'd start an argument with the lecturer by asking why its illegal to use a mobile but not CB ? "Ah well, Yeh, The um, errrh, see the thing is" The best answer I could get from him was that the police, fire brigade, coastguard etc etc all use CB and it would create a two tier system blah blah blah. To which I retorted " so if I plug a charger in with a curly lead on it into my phone and finish every sentence with ROGER, I'm all legal then eh ?. The jury's still out. Brilliant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I remember the days before the law changed and I drove all the time whilst using a mobile phone along with the rest of the population. It's a miracle we're all alive to tell the tale. Indeed, I'm pretty sure that I could hop in a car tomorrow and have a conversation with a passenger or have another conversation by picking the phone up or making a blue tooth call and without crashing. No lives were at risk or people harmed in making this post. True story. When I was a kid we had an old Riley 1.5. The car had rotten brakes, cross-ply tyres, no seat belts and ran on leaded 4 star. There were no speed limits in the village, few road markings and no cameras or policemen to keep us safe. Dad smoked prodigiously while driving, simultaneously holding a conversation and operating the car's various levers and crank handle controls. No one died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kes Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 (edited) Having been in the casualty reduction business, I have to disagree with most - doing anything whilst driving is distracting to the point that the primary task is compromised. There are degrees, naturally. The driving situation you are in, motorway, non motorway (speed of reaction required). Simple short messages, even these can be ditrsacting. How do you legislate for one and not the other ? Hands - free and ban anything else. I have seen loss of control by morons unable to hold a phone and drive with one hand. Changing gear and steering whilst talking is a bit challenging. Its easy to forget that because you are being selfishly distracted, you are putting the life of others at risk and that is normally called either culpable homicide or murder/manslaughter. Its a PHONE CALL. Pull over, ring back later, press the off button but best of all get a hands-free kit. As driving is higher speed/ more complex decision- making, ALL attention should be on the road. I have seen a son lose his mother (same car and mobile) because she wanted to advise she would be home a little late - sadly, it was a lot late. Guys, you really need to get a grip - it really is an accident waiting to happen. I would ban them entirely, hands -free as well to save just one life lost unnecessarily - it might be your wife/ child but if its someone else's that doesn't matter does it £60 quid, luckiest outcome and the least costly you possibly expect. Edited March 13, 2014 by Kes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 (edited) I think even hands free mobile calls should be banned when driving, its not the raising of a pice of plastic to your ear its the diversion of concentration into conversation rather than paying due attention to the road and traffic conditions. I regularily see women with child passengers making animated phone conversations while driving, even when negotiating round abouts. Blackpowder Edited March 13, 2014 by Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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