Police launch crackdown on drivers using mobile phones

[ranworthbreeze]

Police to start a crackdown on drivers using mobile phones today, it is a pity that the crackdown does not include pedestrians.

http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/norfolk_and_suffolk_police_launch_crackdown_on_mobile_phone_drivers_using_signal_detector_1_3929246

Regards

Alan

[Gracie]

What an excellent invention, I couldn't count the number of times we have seen people using their mobiles while driving. To be honest I have been guilty of this in the past, older and wiser and with kids in tow more safety aware and wouldn't dream of doing it now

 

 

I have a question, out with a friend the other week, he was sending a text while driving, we got into a bit of an argument when I asked him to pull over, he said I was being a drama queen and that it only took a minute, I pointed out to him that it only takes a second to crash and die. What would you do if you were in a situation where you are a passenger in a car driven by someone with no regard for their own safety let alone that of their passengers? He was so cross with me because I caused an argument as he put it and made a fuss about nothing

 

Grace

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Grace,

I hate to see anyone who is not watching the road or their mirrors, you tend to see people in front of you turning their heads to talk or argue with each other.

You can have conversation whilst traveling but keep your eyes on the road.

Looking down at phone stays your mind and senses from the job in hand, I am not surprised you were upset.

Regards

Alan

[unclemike]

only one comment Grace, if that is his attitude HE IS NOT A TRUE FRIEND ,certainly not one i would ride with.sounds as though he needs to grow up I cover 20,000 miles a year and see lots of this idiocy, my biggest customer is a vehicle salvage company, they take in accident damaged cars, their throughput is 30,000 cars a week, when you see some of them it is frightening.

[Gracie]

Thanks for the replies guys, I am going to risk another argument and show him this thread, perhaps hearing from other people might make him sit up and take notice. His partner apparently refuses to get in the car with him now, he told me he is notorious for it, maybe if he gets pulled over by the police it will be the wake up call he so obviously needs

Grace

ps I won't show him this thread whilst driving I hasten to add
 

[Hylander]

I am surprised Gracie if he is so stupid as to do this all of the time,  Mr Plod hasnt spotted him or someone bubble him before he kills someone else.   Quite frankly I have no sympathy for drink drivers or mobile users if they kill themselves but just think of the heartbreak of other families, including their own,  they are one big selfish so and so.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Hi Grace,

I hate to see anyone who is not watching the road or their mirrors, you tend to see people in front of you turning their heads to talk or argue with each other.

You can have conversation whilst traveling but keep your eyes on the road.

Looking down at phone stays your mind and senses from the job in hand, I am not surprised you were upset.

Regards

Alan

 

 

Quite so Allan, you CAN have a conversation while still looking at the road, that`s why i think it`s NOT unsafe to TALK on a mobile phone. Sending a text however is sheer lunacy, as you`re not looking at the road while looking at what you`ve written.

 

It amazes me how everybody seems to think these days that if there`s been an accident, it must mean somebody was using their mobile while driving. There are hundreds of reasons for road accidents, and despite the fake "official figures" accidents due to TALKING on mobile phones make up a tiny, and i mean tiny, percentage. However, out of all road accidents put down to the use of mobile phones, "texting" accounts for around 95%. The only reason why the figures get inflated is so Government can introduce yet another crime punishable by financial penalty which raises vital revinue, just like speed cameras in areas where there have been no recorded severe, or fatal accidents, especially on downhill sections of road.

 

I to the opportunty to work out some of these statistics, and when you add up all the percentages of individual reasons for road accidents, it actually came out that out of all the road accidents in this particular year, nearly 300% were caused by accidental means. How on earth can you have 300% of something?,  definitely an example of somebody massaging figures to get a required result.

 

I read that article, and people are raising some serious questions on the real effectiveness on these devises, and justifyably so. It won`t be long before people will be being charged while their passengers are legitamately on the phone.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Something else that comes to mind is the number of cars that now have screens on their dashboard. Now there`s a scenario far more dangerous than holding a phone to your ear while driving.

[CheshireCat]

I 100% totally agree that using a mobile phone whilst driving is stupid , anyone with the attitude that it only takes a minute is idiot !!! I would simply could you pull over I would like to get out and by the way I have done ...

[Matt]

Quite so Allan, you CAN have a conversation while still looking at the road, that`s why i think it`s NOT unsafe to TALK on a mobile phone. Sending a text however is sheer lunacy, as you`re not looking at the road while looking at what you`ve written.

It amazes me how everybody seems to think these days that if there`s been an accident, it must mean somebody was using their mobile while driving. There are hundreds of reasons for road accidents, and despite the fake "official figures" accidents due to TALKING on mobile phones make up a tiny, and i mean tiny, percentage. However, out of all road accidents put down to the use of mobile phones, "texting" accounts for around 95%. The only reason why the figures get inflated is so Government can introduce yet another crime punishable by financial penalty which raises vital revinue, just like speed cameras in areas where there have been no recorded severe, or fatal accidents, especially on downhill sections of road.

I to the opportunty to work out some of these statistics, and when you add up all the percentages of individual reasons for road accidents, it actually came out that out of all the road accidents in this particular year, nearly 300% were caused by accidental means. How on earth can you have 300% of something?, definitely an example of somebody massaging figures to get a required result.

I read that article, and people are raising some serious questions on the real effectiveness on these devises, and justifyably so. It won`t be long before people will be being charged while their passengers are legitamately on the phone.

Neil,

I am not sure you have your stats right. The best I can find is:

A recent study from the National Safety Council found that 26 per cent of all car accidents were caused by a driver using a cell phone, but remarkably attributed only five per cent to texting while driving

And the detecting device is to raise awareness. No fines will be given based on its detection alone.

[kfurbank]

One big difference between talking to a driver in a car and talking to them over the phone. In the car you can see if they are approaching a point in the road or a junction where they need to concentrate more, and you can shut up, and then continue the conversation once the situation improves. At the other end of a phone you are blind to the issues the driver is facing and risk diverting their attention away from a situation they need to concentrate on. Studies have shown that someone concentrating on a mobile phone conversation, and by the way, it doesn't matter if they are holding the phone, or hands free, their reactions are impaired to the same extent as if they'd had a moderate amount of alcohol.

 

It is illegal to hold a mobile phone, it is illegal to eat or drink whilst driving, imho it should also be illegal to smoke whilst driving.

[Matt]

it is illegal to eat or drink whilst driving.

I dont think it is......

It can lead to other offences but it is not an offence on its own.

[kfurbank]

It very much falls under Driving without due care and attention and there are many cases of people being convicted as a result, including cases where people have been done for drinking or eating whilst waiting at a red traffic light.

 

Edited to add, A CD10 conviction can carry anything from 3 to 9 points, with the resulting much higher insurance premiums.

[riyadhcrew]

Seeing people driving and talking on the phone is common place here in Riyadh. I'd go as far as to say 30 - 40% of cars. The other day I was driving home and the pick-up in front of me was wandering between lanes. When I eventually pulled along side him, he was on the phone with one hand and trying to light a cigarette with the other hand. He must have been steering with his leg. SCARRRRYYYY!!

[grendel]

I have a car cam video of a van driver, who didnt even bother slowing down when he got to the roundabout I was already on, I missed the back of his van by just a few feet, because I was watching and aware he was coming onto the roundabout with some speed. If I had been distracted for any reason I might not have seen him and would have ploughed into the side of him.

my phone is on a bluetooth hands free, and I still dont answer it while I am driving, let alone text or touch it.

It only takes a fraction of a seconds innatention to be involved in an accident, and it might not even be your fault.

Grendel

[grendel]

like this

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Neil,

I am not sure you have your stats right. The best I can find is:

A recent study from the National Safety Council found that 26 per cent of all car accidents were caused by a driver using a cell phone, but remarkably attributed only five per cent to texting while driving

And the detecting device is to raise awareness. No fines will be given based on its detection alone.

 

Like i said Matt, FAKE statistics.  All contrived to justify yet another way to fine people and get in much more revinue.

 

Years ago, people just had trivial accidents, such as a tissue falling from your pocket when you got your keys out etc etc, but nowadays, those trivial accidents will net you a fine for littering.

 

I wonder what else all the do gooders would be able to blame if there were no mobile phones?. Accidents ARE going to happen, and you can`t legislate accidents out of existence. It`s just the lemmings want to be heard saying things they think others want to hear.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Seeing people driving and talking on the phone is common place here in Riyadh. I'd go as far as to say 30 - 40% of cars. The other day I was driving home and the pick-up in front of me was wandering between lanes. When I eventually pulled along side him, he was on the phone with one hand and trying to light a cigarette with the other hand. He must have been steering with his leg. SCARRRRYYYY!!

 

 

So, are you blaming that on him being on a mobile phone?. It could just be because he`s trying to light a cigarette, while doing something else?. But we MUST blame the fact hes on the phone.

[riyadhcrew]

I blame any one, or worse, both together. It was obvious that neither hand was on the wheel and I have no idea what effect the phone call alone was causing on his concentration. All I know is there was enough distraction to cause him to weave across the lanes.

[jeffbroadslover]

Gracie, good for you but you should have grabbed his phone and thrown it out of the window !

 

I used to drive a taxi for about 20 years and when mobiles became THE way to go I bought a hands free earpiece. The latest one I bought and still use answers my phone automatically for me and shuts off at the end of the conversation so I don't have to touch anything.

 

All this for less than a tenner !!

 

IMHO the law does not go far enough when an "accident" is caused by using a mobile whist driving.   Apart from a heavy cash penalty there should be a driving ban of at least 12 months !

 

 

 

Jeff

[Gracie]

I totally agree Jeff, as I said earlier I have used a phone while driving before I became a mum, who the hell did I think I was to have such arrogance and think I was above the law.

After reading the replies on here if my friend does it again I will ask him to pull over and get out of the car that's for sure.

At the end of the day no matter what our views it is illegal and down right dangerous, anything that will help to deter people from using their phones while driving is welcome in my book, as Hylander rightly pointed out not only are they a danger to themselves but their passengers and other road users alike

Grace

[MauriceMynah]

Out of interest Jeff, how did you get on as a taxi driver with the radio?

I ask as I too have done that job, also in the 70s and 80s I was a CB radio user.

I found it strange that when on the phone (No hands free but before it was made an offence) it was hugely more distracting than the radio conversations. I stopped using mobiles until I acquired a hands free unit but even then (and now) I find them very distracting.

The radio however , vastly less so!

[diesel falcon]

I just tell my car to phone someone..........and it does!!

 

there was a gent with a patrolman on the Norwich southern bypass tonight 

[Matt]

It very much falls under Driving without due care and attention and there are many cases of people being convicted as a result, including cases where people have been done for drinking or eating whilst waiting at a red traffic light.

Edited to add, A CD10 conviction can carry anything from 3 to 9 points, with the resulting much higher insurance premiums.

So eating and drinking whilst driving is not illegal then.

Eating and drinking whilst driving without due care and attention is illegal in the same way that you might not be driving with due care If you were shaving whilst driving?

[Siddy]

I've used both types of bluetooth and now having to use a ear piece instead of via audio system and having it in my ear I find i'm am listening to the call rather more than via radio, it's sits on the side till it rings. I'm not allowed to swap my radio for one with bluetooth cause it's against fleet rules.

 

So what about them pulling these with normal headphones in listening to music?