GaryK

banning of mobile phone usage and driving...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/26748.html

Wonder if that will apply to the a$$hole I passed this morning on the A1 in a blue astra with his frigging newspaper spread-over his steering wheel him happily reading it at 70mph!!!

f*ck me when will people realise that driving is not something you do as an incidental task to something else.

Gary

ChrisB

I've seen people drive up the pavement trying to find their **** whilst driving.

Is smoking, eating, drinking etc going to be banned as well?

TomM

I used to do all of them at once!, handsfree whilst soffing a sarnie then having a drink and lighting a ***!, it was alright in my Tiptronic Audi but the manual gearbox is a pain!!

This was a few years back when I almost lived on the road, Iam not saying anything but I did put quite a serious dink in my Audi because of that!!

Now got a proper hands free kit and dont eat in the car!, lesson learnt!

shunty

well said GaryK, pi$$es me off as well.

I am sure I get branded a danger on the road by the majority of people due to the car I drive & the noise it makes, when most of the dangerous driving is done by the average bloke/woman in his average car every morning on the way to work.

shunty

rr_ww

Absolutly spot on.

However, I'm very surprised the AA, amongst others, have come out against this saying that it doesn't warrant its own category. Will bear that in mind when their kidy gets mown down by some idiot having a conversatoin. (Or even worse sending at text message!!!!)

Re : TXT MSG a trucker recently was convicted and sent to prison for that. He had hit somebody but still had time to send the message "**** ive just hit someone!"

Talk about morals!

Clarebabes

There was a thread a couple of days back about someone getting pulled over for using a mobile phone whilst driving. So, I thought it was already illegal.

There was also the case of the woman who got fined for taking a swig out of a "sports" bottle whilst staionary at traffic lights. (This was on the news and everything!)

So, is it a case of selective illegality, or is it actually illegal already to eat or drink or do anything apart from actually drive in your car?

I am a wee bit confused........

fatherpierre

The actual act of using your phone, eating, smoking. etc. whilst driving isn't illegal. It' the fact that doing one or more of these things can (in an Police Officer's view) deem you to be driving without due care and attention, and it's that that you'll be pulled over an fined for.

beefola

Is the ban going to be on all types of use, including a hands free? I read that they beleive that talking on a hands free is just as dangerous as holding the phone. Now surely this must be absolute b0ll0cks. With a hands free your hands are both on the wheel, without they're not. Simple.
I'd like someone to point out to me why talking on a hands free is any more dangerous than talking to your passenger. Are they going to ban this next? Surely if you're talking to your passenger you're more likely to turn your head and look at them, whereas with a hands free you can concentrate on the road ahead.
Just my 10p's worth.
Beef
Edited to say that i am in favour of banning holding the phone, especially after some dizzy wench cut me up at 80 on the motorway the other day. flashed, beeped etc, she pulled over and.....was on her moby. Fuming to say the least.

[Edited by beefola - 8/23/2002 10:24:57 AM]

ProperCharlie

apparently it is more dangerous to talk on hands free than to talk to a passenger because poor quality of audio means you have to concentrate harder and also passengers tend to shut up when they start to get scared due to road conditions, leaving you free to concentrate on driving. Having said that there are loads other things that cause people to lose concentration, and no plans to ban all of them.

I use my hands free the whole time and would be bloody p*ssed off if they get made illegal.

Charlie.

beefola

Just had a big debate about this in the office, and they were trying to tell me that using the hands free is just as bad, and i got a little annoyed to say the least. I agree that you may lose a little concentration, but surely its the lesser of two evils. People need to be able to talk on the phone in these times, its almost essential. If they ban the use of hands free, there are going to be a few new BMW/Merc/Audi W.H.Y. owners asking for a rebate on the extra they shelled out for the in-car phone!
Okay, so its my 15p's worth....
Beef

[Edited by beefola - 8/23/2002 10:47:39 AM]

shunty

beefola,
I understand your point, but I think if you have a hands free kit fitted then it's more than likely for a reason, moreso the job rather than anything else...
just try this,
make 2 calls on the hands free kit, 1 to the missus to tell her your coming home for tea, then taking her for a meal, oh & how is she...
next, phone work, speak to Paul who is your manager & ask him hows the office today, any issues etc....
the following result WILL occur....

conversation 1 will last 1-2 minutes & your speed/awareness won't alter/fluctuate hardly (even though this is still bad)

conversation 2 WILL last 15-25 minutes & you will slow down, your focus/awareness will dramatically lessen on the road.

just try it tomorrow & tell me the result, I talk from experience having done this myself for a few years (not now & much more relaxed in general), now I phone the missus before I leave work & never ring the office whilst in the car.

I appreciate if your in sales as this IS your bread & butter.....BUT??? change something...experience comes with age, not meant to be patronising to you beefola, this is just a general statement to everyone.

shunty (with far too much too say lately)

boomer

Is it the phone, or is it the driver??

I reckon that around half of the tailgaters that follow me (especially around town) are on the phone [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

But these d*ckheads would probably still tailgate without a phone!! They would still be up my ar$e, but lighting a ***, or combing their hair, or tuning the radio - or just plain tailgating.

Banning mobile phones in cars is just a pathetic attempt to show that the government is trying to improve road safety - without actually doing anything constructive

mb

Luke

After the police stop using their radios whilst driving.

rr_ww

Sorry Luke that doesnt wash.

NORMALLY (Though obviously not always) its the passenger in the police car on the radio.

Richard