Using a mobile phone whilst driving - they got me!

[Gavia]

Red Devil said:

Gavia said:

Boosted LS1 said:

Gavia said:

Boosted LS1 said:

^ Are you getting all emotional? I'd prefer to look at the statistics.

I'm with you. Except I disagree with drink driving laws. Let's join forces and try to get rid of both sets of laws

I disagree with drink driving laws to. Lots of people can manage a tipple and drive safely. The carnage doesn't exist imo. Certainly there will be deaths but far more are caused by piss poor driving.

I'm pretty well pissed after just one pint, but find taxis expensive. I just want the laws repealed so that I can save a few quid. If I hurt anyone then my insurance should sort it all out.

I still agree with you, except I'm being honest about my views.

I wonder if you would feel the same way if a pissed-up driver wiped out a member of your family. Or are they all already deceased? Otoh, the suggestion that your insurance is adequate compensation for someone else's family if you were to kill another road user or leave them with permanent life-changing injuries is risible.

Troll.

I was quite clearly being ironic. I'm amazed how many people seem to support people on here if they've been caught doing something. To me mobile phone use when driving is akin to drink driving and both should be enforced rigidly.

[MagicalTrevor]

I'm not having a pop here, you've held you hands up to it but I'm curious as to why you don't have hands free in your van? Assuming you use the van for business then you're also likely to receive calls whilst in the move so what's prevented you from spending a few quid on a Bluetooth setup?

I ask because I regularly see van drivers on their phone and I can understand why they feel the need to but it's not exactly a huge cost for a business.

[Joe5y]

MagicalTrevor said:

I'm not having a pop here, you've held you hands up to it but I'm curious as to why you don't have hands free in your van?

I'm in a temporary van for a week. I do have BT in my van. Still, no excuse.

Separately the BT module in my e60 has died this week.

[SS2.]

V8 Fettler said:

You must surely have seen the results of a bad smash.

Most of us have.

But the chances of that particular serious accident having resulted from a driver using a mobile phone are slim - example, it's more than 5 times more likely that dazzling sun was a contributory factor.

[Boosted LS1]

They'll be bringing back the window tax soon.

[Red Devil]

Gavia said:

Red Devil said:

Gavia said:

Boosted LS1 said:

Gavia said:

Boosted LS1 said:

^ Are you getting all emotional? I'd prefer to look at the statistics.

I'm with you. Except I disagree with drink driving laws. Let's join forces and try to get rid of both sets of laws

I disagree with drink driving laws to. Lots of people can manage a tipple and drive safely. The carnage doesn't exist imo. Certainly there will be deaths but far more are caused by piss poor driving.

I'm pretty well pissed after just one pint, but find taxis expensive. I just want the laws repealed so that I can save a few quid. If I hurt anyone then my insurance should sort it all out.

I still agree with you, except I'm being honest about my views.

I wonder if you would feel the same way if a pissed-up driver wiped out a member of your family. Or are they all already deceased? Otoh, the suggestion that your insurance is adequate compensation for someone else's family if you were to kill another road user or leave them with permanent life-changing injuries is risible.

Troll.

I was quite clearly being ironic. I'm amazed how many people seem to support people on here if they've been caught doing something. To me mobile phone use when driving is akin to drink driving and both should be enforced rigidly.

Clear to whom?

For all anyone on here knows you could be extremely susceptible to being affected by a very small intake of alcohol.
And given the post above yours who is to know your real attitude?
Despite the law there are still people who don't give a toss and chance it.

[Countdown]

Boosted LS1 said:

Gavia said:

Boosted LS1 said:

^ Are you getting all emotional? I'd prefer to look at the statistics.

I'm with you. Except I disagree with drink driving laws. Let's join forces and try to get rid of both sets of laws

I disagree with drink driving laws to. Lots of people can manage a tipple and drive safely. The carnage doesn't exist imo. Certainly there will be deaths but far more are caused by piss poor driving.

I know what you mean. I disagree with MOTs. It's perfectly safe to drive a car with no brakes and bald tyres as long as you drive to the conditions but because some people are incapable of doing so we all have to suffer the consequences. Brakes-it can't come soon enough.....

[turbobloke]

bad company said:

Slightly off topic but I'm not long back from India where I witnessed several motorcyclists using phones. Some had up to 4 people on the bike.

In Thailand you'll see the same thing with 6 or 7 up and the rider yakking away.

On the semi-dirt surface of what passes as a hard shoulder on a major (fast) road.

Travelling in the opposite direction to the traffic on 'their' side.

At dusk, with no lights.

All in a day's driving.



No speed awareness courses or mobile phone courses is the probable cause.

[Gavia]

Red Devil said:

Clear to whom?

For all anyone on here knows you could be extremely susceptible to being affected by a very small intake of alcohol.
And given the post above yours who is to know your real attitude?
Despite the law there are still people who don't give a toss and chance it.

Obviously not clear to you, as you keep coming back and raking over it again. One last time, I was being ironic. I don't like drink driving, or people using mobile phones when driving.

Maybe you can have a go at the guy suggesting that MOT laws should be removed too. I can quite clearly see that he's being ironic with his comments.

[Willy Nilly]

Boosted LS1 said:

^ Are you getting all emotional? I'd prefer to look at the statistics.

To listen to the media you might be excuse for thinking that every time someone picks up the phone it causes a crash like the one with that unfortunate Polish lorry driver. But the use of mobile phones has gone from almost zero to almost everyone having one which has been further compounded by smartphones which people can use for all sorts of things that not long ago weren't even thought of. Yet, in spite of all this, road casualties are at an all time low.

I'm not going to encourage or endorse using your phone while driving, but when their use while driving is so wide spread it's quite possible that using them while driving, while very stupid, doesn't causes as many deaths and injuries as we are being told it does.

It would be interesting to see the figures for crashes involving phone use and where they sit on the seriousness scale. I wouldn't mind betting the cause a lot of minor bumps.

[SS2.]

Willy Nilly said:

I wouldn't mind betting the cause a lot of minor bumps.

In 2015, drivers using a mobile phone was attributed as a contributory factor in less than 0.4% of reported minor accidents.

[Countdown]

Mobile phone use the biggest cause of road fatalities

[SS2.]

Countdown said:

Mobile phone use the biggest cause of road fatalities

Another headline that's not at all misleading.

[problemchild1976]

there are LOTS of things that cause distractions while driving

how many of us have been a passenger where the driver insists on looking your way while talking?

how many of us have tried to light a fag with the tiny car lighter or even worse an actual naked flame lighter or dropped the end between our legs?

how many of us try to programme the sat nav while driving or find that 80s DAB station we like?

how many of us have been staring at the hot blonde at the bus stop for a few seconds too long?

what i see as stupid is a law that singles out the usage of mobiles. holding a phone to your ear while driving is seen and punished as worse than reading the news paper when driving. I see it as people being the issue not the phone. I can scratch my ear for 10mins but thats ok. holding a phone in the same position is not

i'm totally against people not paying attention while driving BUT that shouldn't be just limited to phone use.

i'd say a v high proportion of us speed from time to time but it is seen as way more acceptable than holding a phone to the ear.

the truck driver video is scary but there are similar accidents where a phone wasn't involved. he could have been asleep or changing the radio or looking for some travel sweets in the glove box.

Sorry you got busted. i'm indifferent. wont slate you nor will i praise you. the modern world is a strange place

JJ

[TooMany2cvs]

problemchild1976 said:

i'm totally against people not paying attention while driving BUT that shouldn't be just limited to phone use.

If only there was some catch-all offence to cover situations where people are not giving their driving due care and attention, or are being careless?

[rambo19]

Joe5y said:

I'm in a temporary van for a week. I do have BT in my van. Still, no excuse.

Separately the BT module in my e60 has died this week.

Fair play for being honest.
In hindsight, the best thing would of been to end the call.

[Boosted LS1]

TooMany2cvs said:

problemchild1976 said:

i'm totally against people not paying attention while driving BUT that shouldn't be just limited to phone use.

If only there was some catch-all offence to cover situations where people are not giving their driving due care and attention, or are being careless?

Exactly this. Still, fining people who so much as touch a phone rakes in money whilst also looking as if a tough stance is being taken. It's not the heinous crime they'd like to convince us to believe it is.

[SS2.]

Boosted LS1 said:

It's not the heinous crime they'd like to convince us to believe it is.

There's plenty who have been suckered in by the spin, though.

[Nigel Worc's]

Joe5y said:

MagicalTrevor said:

I'm not having a pop here, you've held you hands up to it but I'm curious as to why you don't have hands free in your van?

I'm in a temporary van for a week. I do have BT in my van. Still, no excuse.

Separately the BT module in my e60 has died this week.

I swap vehicles frequently and need my phone.

I have a blue tooth earpiece (about £20) that I use when not in my own vehicle where built in blue tooth is available.

All the earpiece allows you to do is accept calls and redial the last number you called.

I too am not having a pop at you, I think the present law and the paranoia that surrounds it are stupid, I'm just showing you how cheap it is to comply.

[Joe5y]

Nigel Worc's said:

Joe5y said:

MagicalTrevor said:

I'm not having a pop here, you've held you hands up to it but I'm curious as to why you don't have hands free in your van?

I'm in a temporary van for a week. I do have BT in my van. Still, no excuse.

Separately the BT module in my e60 has died this week.

I swap vehicles frequently and need my phone.

I have a blue tooth earpiece (about £20) that I use when not in my own vehicle where built in blue tooth is available.

All the earpiece allows you to do is accept calls and redial the last number you called.

I too am not having a pop at you, I think the present law and the paranoia that surrounds it are stupid, I'm just showing you how cheap it is to comply.

I think that this is what I'd do if I swapped a lot but I was only in a different van because mine was being fixed. Hey hum, expensive conversation in the end.