Mobiles And Driving

[B25Modelman]

I do a lot of motorway driving, I did over 500 miles this weekend. I see people talking on phones all the time, I also see phones on the windscreen with moving images, film, TV, Skype, facetime or what ever. I also see satnavs right in the middle of the windscreen blocking the view.

 

Nobody does anything about it. I have seen women putting on makeup, people eating and drinking at the wheel.

My uncle was a lorry driver and he used to see ALL kinds of things from ahigh.

[ditchman]

what truly worries me is the "beet season/campagne"........we have everyday 800 odd lorry movements in and out of the village...and during the season all the way up to the A47 there is bits of the verge in the road plus a barrowfull of scattered earth.......this is where the beet wagons mount the verge at 50mph ...and more when they are on the phone...on the last mile into the village and if i see 30 wagons...at least 15 of the drivers will be texting or on the phone...and not hands free......im just waiting for the inevitable...

[dad]

i bet there arent many people on here havent nearly left the road or had an accident looking for pigeons while driving, a laps in concentration is the same what ever you are doing

[Scully]

i bet there arent many people on here havent nearly left the road or had an accident looking for pigeons while driving, a laps in concentration is the same what ever you are doing

 

Quite possibly, but looking for pigeons isn't illegal.

[ShootingEgg]

A laps in concentration is the same what ever you are doing

Very true

[mossy835]

i was in a field looking for pigeons and had to be pulled out of plough furrow.

[KFC]

I was in a hotel in Birmingham last week and the room I was in overlooked a set of traffic lights at a major T-junction. It seemed just about every other driver had a phone in their lap which they were using.

The police could grab a fair chunk of funding if they hired that room for a day with a camera.

[dad]

 

Quite possibly, but looking for pigeons isn't illegal.

no but driving without due care and attention is

[shaun4860]

My uncle was a lorry driver and he used to see ALL kinds of things from ahigh.

Me too....VERY strange behavior

 

[Scully]

no but driving without due care and attention is

 

Yes, but driving without due care and attention is not a deliberate act, and you can only be charged IF you cause an accident. Driving while on a mobile phone is a deliberate act and illegal whether you cause an accident or not.

[Vince Green]

I remember a story a while back of a young woman who got nicked for taking a swig of water while at the wheel. As far as I remember her counter claim was that the car was stuck in traffic

[fern01]

I was walking on a footpath with the dogs on a wet and windy night and a cyclist passed holding an umbrella.

[Walker570]

We used to use the 'drive without due and attention' quite a bit back in the 60s 70s etc., is it still on the statute, I don't know.

rarely anyone out there to check on these things these days. I drove over 200 miles a week or so ago and never saw a single police car.

We used to put two traffic cars, two instant response cars and at least three local Mike cars out every shift on our Division and prided ourselves in arriving at a call in a puff of smoke, ready to feel collars. A neighbour recently told a police officer he had good information as to who was thieving in our area and the reply "Can't do anything unless we catch them at it." My team would have had a plain clothes unit out on watch until we did just that. Frightened of their own shadows today or being reported to their superiors for some off the cuff remark.

[gemini52]

I saw a hoody type youth the other week cycling down the middle of the road using both hands to text,hoping he was going to run into the back of a parked car,alas it wasn,t my day he was living a charmed life that day,i live in hope

Edited August 1, 2016 by gemini52

[Bazooka Joe]

rarely anyone out there to check on these things these days. I drove over 200 miles a week or so ago and never saw a single police car.

 

 

And that's a big part of the problem, I drive to Chester & back from Durham on a regular basis & hardly ever see any coppers....to many cutbacks...

[Davyo]

 

Is typing into a Sat Nav or using your car stereo any less dangerous than using a phone?

 

Is it illegal to use a hands free car kit? I doubt it, but yet you would stare away from the road just as long as you would a phone, if you are scrolling looking for a number to dial!

 

Like someone has said, the most danger a phone poses is when people are trying to hide it and looking down in their laps instead of at the road.

with bluetooth hand free you dont touch anything other than the button on the stering wheel right next to your thumb at 9 oclock.Simply say phone then the name of your contact for example "call Tim" end the call with a press of another button right next to your thumb.Your eyes never leave the road.Same as your music all voice activated (Ford).

What really hacks me off is the idiot in the £40k plus motors that still use their phones when these motors will have some top class handfree systems.It takes 2 minutes to connect your phone and download your contacts, you only need to do it the once.

[Chris Bb]

 

And that's a big part of the problem, I drive to Chester & back from Durham on a regular basis & hardly ever see any coppers....to many cutbacks...

 

There's plenty on the M27. But they're all in unmarked cars, you only see them when the "blues" are on and they're motoring in the fast lane.

 

Using a hand held phone while driving? Should be the same as drink/drugs. Judging by the number of people around here who do it on a certain congested A road at a busy roundabout, it should be the easiest "nick" in the world, one copper to spot & radio on, one (or more) to arrest. They'd be very busy.

[Dougy]

Bit controversial this but here goes

The phone laws should be scrapped for safety's sake

Very few people are taking any notice of it and the police have better things to deal with

IF the law was scrapped people would use their phones at screen level rather than hiding them in their laps

People go to extra ordinary lengths to not wearcseat belts and that law has been in place for donkeys

if you were found to have been using your phone when involved in an incedent then surely you could be prosecuted under laws in place that aren't phone specific

 

 

Oh dear, certainly disagree on all accounts.

I followed a blue Merc on the A38 south bound near Burton, 60 MPH limit. He was doing 70 - 60 - 55 - 45 - 70 - 60 - 45 - 40 - 65 - 75 then turned off for Barton it was just before the turn off that I was able to over take and see him quite happily chatting on his mobile. I was not a happy bunny and neither was anyone else stuck behind this totally oblivious driver.

If it were not for my good nature he would of had a nudge off the road. Police where not interested as they say they need to catch them themselves, the thing is it must be so easy to prove with the phone records.

 

For me a total ban or pour super glue on the phone and stick the phone to the side of the faces of those that do it.