Its time to stop people using mobile phones while they are driving.
Everyday i will follow somebody who decides to answer a call, then the inevitable erratic driving happens - you know speed up/down , wander across lanes.
The vast majority of us do not have the coordination to drive, hold a mobile and a conversation.
I know many of you will disagree but this is a road safety issue that seems to be ignored.
Steve G
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Agreed.
There has been some discussion in legal circles about making this a specific offence. However, anything held in the hands (cigarette, newspaper, map, shaver, partner's anatomy, etc) distracts and is a danger.
Existing legislation covering not having proper control of the vehicle is adequate to cover all of these, if only there were some boys in blue on the road to enforce it!
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It'd be good to see something done about it. As with inappropriate speed, I don't mind these people damaging themselves, but it's the other innocent people on the road who will inevitably suffer.
I always wonder how the people on the phones would react if someone they cared for was involved in an accident caused by someone doing the same.
Moreover, talking on the phone means you can't properly concentrate on the driving; driving means you can't properly concentrate on the call.
I think we need some kind of traffic warden scheme since the police resources seem stretched, and failing that, bring back hanging.
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Mobile phones are just one more thing which sane motorists recognise as a potential problem and discipline themselves about. The others don't care enough to think about it (or about other drivers). This kind of discipline can't be imposed by laws or policing, just responsible behaviour. Pity .. ..
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I agree with the point about other items as well as mobile phones, it just appears to be 'trendy' to attack mobile phone users, but smoking along with other activities is just as dangerous (if not more, a phone isn't alight, doesn't fill the vehicle with smoke, doesn't create hot ash that burns, and doesn't have to be flicked out of the window when finished with)
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Okay, what about smoking then? That's far more dangerous because at least mobiles don't blind you with smoke and drop red hot ash on your crutch.
HJ
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exactly, in the right circumstances it can be done safely
and the boys in blue are often seen driving in far more dangerous situations in police camera action (with a pro-police commantary) taking crazy risks while talking into a non-hands free mike
equip plod cars/fire engines/ambulances with hands free kits before worrying about the public
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Plod cars have had hands free for years, just the film on plod camera action is all old stuff.
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wrong wrong wrong, maybe some in some areas do, i could point u at lots that dont!
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How do you know I am wrong, wrong, wrong?
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In response to post #6 - you will NEVER see a fire appliance driver using the radio whilst driving - this is the job of the OIC who sits in the passenger seat. He also operates all lights/sirens/horns.
I, for one, wouldn't have an issue with an ambulance driver using the radio to forewarn the hospital of an impending arrival - whilst the paramedic technician is battling to keep someone alive in the back. How would you feel if it were your nearest & dearest?
Police drivers - the footage we see on our screens is 8/10 years old - they were using Rover 827's back then. I think they were affectionately named 'General Belgrano' as they pitched and rolled so badly!
The police have the unenviable task of keping law and order - use of the radio by the driver would only be as a last resort - most, if not all pursuits we see show the passenger using the radio and not the driver.
Rgds
David
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And what about fiddling with a tape or CD.
A girl was killed on the A55 a few years ago. She lost control of her car, went across the road, hit another car and was found with a tape cassette in her left hand.
I note Ford radios have no knobs and I find the on/off button less simple to use, much more of a fiddle.
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Steve, I agree with you wholeheartedly. The key factor that makes the use of a mobile phone different, whether hand held or not, is serious distraction -- sustained distraction that you cannot ignore, unlike the radio or the talkative passenger who can be asked to be quiet. As I've said before on this board, try a little test at home: if you can listen to the radio and do concentrated writing or reading simultaneously with no loss of attention to either activity all the time, you're equipped to participate in a telephone conversation while driving. You can, can you? Oh yeah . . .
Try the following for a dose of the heebiejeebies:
I was entering my home town and saw in my rear-view mirror a woman [could easily have been a bloke] driving a silver Audi. She was also using her mobile telephone. She continued to do so around the two roundabouts on the approach to the town, across the zebra crossing and roundabout, and through the traffic lights. She then came to a halt and, while still using the telephone with one hand, attempted to reverse into a parking space. The attempt was predictably clumsy and I didn't stay around to see how long it took to succeed.
The Highway Code is unequivocal on the matter (Section 127): "You MUST exercise proper control of your vehicle at all times. Never use a hand held mobile phone or microphone while driving. Using hands-free equipment is also likely to distract your attention from the road. It is far safer not to use any telephone while driving ? find a safe place to stop first. (Road Traffic Act 1988, sections 2 and 3)"
Isn't driving dangerous enough already?
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I went to the scene of an RTA once, the driver, it was subsequently found, had been using his hand held mobile. He went down this particular strech of road like a pinball bouncing from wall-to-wall, hitting nothing else but writing off his car in the process. I will never forget his screams of pain when I got there. He was trapped by the kneecap by his centre console. I wonder if he still uses his phone when driving; they tell me that pain therapy is the best form of prevention.
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HJ,
You have commented in a couple of threads about mobile phone use while driving and I get the impression you feel it is OK; or it is justified because other practices are more dangerous.
What are you views on this?
Bob
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HJ
I did put smoking as the first item in my post ten minutes before yours.
But: to be pedantic, your "crutch" is what you use to support you when you've tripped over the cat.
Your "crotch" is the bit you drop hot ash onto.
ATB
Brian
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Smoking while driving is different to holding a phone and engaging in a conversation HJ.
I'ts a coordination thing...
The best example i can think of is my experience of playing the guitar.
It takes ages before becoming really good at it (like driving), then when you can impress people with your ability somebody ask's can you sing at the same time ? .I'ts incredibly difficult especially when you have to remember the lyrics as well.
Unfortunately very few of us have the ability.( I don't, but its probably best if i don't sing !)
As for Police Hand-held devices ,is there a need for such things these days ?
Steve G
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I can not see why a hands free 'phone is so very dangerous, compared with passengers. A'phone you CAN switch off......
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when i get a call on my mobile i pull over to a safe place to stop, that is what i think you should do.
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Something I posted on 25 May in reposnse to an earlier similar point by Roger Jones
"Of course the guy/gal on the phone could just be phoning to reschedule the appointment they are late for, thus taking off the pressure to get there that little bit quicker and take that ever so little risk.
As so many things in life its a question of maintaining a balance."
I also gave later in that thread my strategy on using hands free only.
Of course if you are on the phone then you can shut up or ask the caller to shut up. I agree if the conversation is urgent and complicated, ie anything other than the most basic, you should stop.
As Andrew Tarr said its a matter of discipline and as I said back in May maintaining that balance. No journet or call is that important that you should put at risk the primary purpose, getting to the other end in one piece.
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In answer to Bob H, I'll take calls, briefly, on my mobile because that's the whole point of having one but I don't make them unless I'm stuck in a traffic jam and have to use the time somehow.
HJ
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On the subject of distractions within the car, if i remember correctly (i may have the F1 driver wrong [but never let the truth get in the way of a good story!!]) didn't Micheal Schumacher have a car accident whilst changing a tape in his stereo? And we all know about his concentration and car control!!!!
glenn
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I drive about a lot and am amazed to see so many people on Hand held mobiles all the time. In Spain they have really cracked down on this because there were so many accidents caused by it - a hands free mobile is a different matter, your hands are free to operate the vehicle and you can still retain full control whatever happens. When my car is in for servicing etc and i have a sh*te courtesy car 106 with no legroom whatsoever I tell the people in my office not to ring me at all because I don't think you can drive safely with a phone in one hand. I switch it off in fact.
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Yeah, I seem to recall that too. Didn't the fuming lorry driver he run into change his mood and ask for an autograph in the end?
Someone earlier (sorry forgot who) mentioned the ambulance thing. I'd agree with them on that, but would add that "I'll be home in ten minutes", "So how many do you want to buy" and "Did you see Beryl at the restaurant on Saturday" calls, which I suspect are the subject of most mobile conversations are just unnecessary and very dangerous.
Interesting what HJ said about jams. I'd agree with him, but only if the car was stationary or in very slow traffic and it was in an automatic.
No-one's mentioned texting, which would be entirely unsafe whilst driving, regardless of the circumstances.
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