Mobile phone use crackdown

[speedking31]

ferrariF50lover said:

I wonder whether, to take a bold step, all things considered, 30 or so lives a year isn't a price worth paying?

Millions of people who use their phone every day while driving (extrapolated figure from those that I see on the way to work) would appear to agree with you. I wonder what the result of a referendum would be?

[ferrariF50lover]

PoleDriver said:

I can't believe those who say that they can't go on a journey without being able to use their phone!
Get a life!!
It's not that long ago that taking your phone out and about with you was not possible, we all lived through that.
Maybe you think you need to get that call because you are important? If you were that important you'd have a chauffeur and could sit in the back making those 'oh-so-urgent' calls as much as you like!

When driving you should only be concentrating on one thing, DRIVING!

I don't especially want to get into a discussion about whether mobile phone use at the wheel ought to be outlawed per se, but I think there's a conversation in this:

You contend that it wasn't that long ago that people couldn't take their phones with them. Implicitly, you ask, 'why not now?' I ask you by return, it wasn't so long ago we didn't have motorised transport at all, why are you so important that you can't cope without it today.
The answer, of course, is that it's nothing to do with importance at all. The world is a dynamic place. It changes with time. Some new inventions come along which change our world rapidly and to an extreme degree. Mobile phones are one of them, as was the motor car.

The way we live and work now means that it's irrelevant what happened or how things were done even as recently as the 90s.

The world has evolved. The 'it never did me no 'arm' argument is blunter today than ever it has been in history.

There are many good arguments in favour of the banning of mobile phone use behind the wheel. 'I never had it so why should you' isn't one of them.

[PoleDriver]

ferrariF50lover said:

There are many good arguments in favour of the banning of mobile phone use behind the wheel. 'I never had it so why should you' isn't one of them.

I don't have any problem with people taking their phone with them but I do have issues with people who can't wait until it's safe to use them!

I'm no Luddite! I'm not against the use of phones when safe, in fact I had one of the first Motorola 'brick' phones back in the 80s and these days I carry 2 mobiles (work and personal) and an iPad with me everywhere! What I don't do is use them while I'm driving!

[spyder dryver]

JimSuperSix said:

... At the moment no-one has invented a camera that can detect a fart in a car, so it's "safe".

The Bib use special breeds of dog for this important task.
Belgian Gas Hound is one, Norwegian Methane Terrier is another.
According to Viz.

[Red Devil]

Vipers said:

Often the OH will be yapping away, when something happens on the road ahead, maybe a bunch of cars down the road braking, or some idiot on the phone weaving around in front of me, I just say to her "I am busy", she knows to stop yapping as a I am now concentrating 100% on whats going on.

So like all of us, I can manage a conversation when driving, but at times, you need to disengage in conversation, and this is what he means.

Exactly. Even better, "I'm driving, I'll call you back later". Best of all don't take the call at all and wait until you break the journey or it had ended. Just scroll through the missed calls log.

cb1965 said:

Vipers said:

Can't the problem really. Use a hand held mobile, breaking the law, may be fined, use hands free, do not break the law.

Yep and in doing so it's no worse than talking to a passenger yet we have a stream of people on here who want the use of them banned altogether even going as far as having them become disabled when they are inside a vehicle.

I beg to differ. A conversation with someone on the other end of phone is quite different from where the other person is physically present (i.e. a passenger). The latter is capable of understanding if the driver has a reason for not responding and will react appropriately by waiting until one is forthcoming. The former can't (and likely won't).

[Vipers]

On a lighter note.

When car phones were all the rage, I called my pal, and got this recorded message-

"Hi this is John, I am in at the moment so I can't take your call, if you leave your number I willl you when I am out".

[dave_Sw1]

they should make everyone caught have to fit a hands free kit as part of the fine

[nonsequitur]

dave_Sw1 said:

they should make everyone caught have to fit a hands free kit as part of the fine

But hands free is just as dangerous as hand held.
(Road research laboratory investigation 2012.)

[Boosted LS1]

Red Devil said:

Vipers said:

Often the OH will be yapping away, when something happens on the road ahead, maybe a bunch of cars down the road braking, or some idiot on the phone weaving around in front of me, I just say to her "I am busy", she knows to stop yapping as a I am now concentrating 100% on whats going on.

So like all of us, I can manage a conversation when driving, but at times, you need to disengage in conversation, and this is what he means.

Exactly. Even better, "I'm driving, I'll call you back later". Best of all don't take the call at all and wait until you break the journey or it had ended. Just scroll through the missed calls log.

cb1965 said:

Vipers said:

Can't the problem really. Use a hand held mobile, breaking the law, may be fined, use hands free, do not break the law.

Yep and in doing so it's no worse than talking to a passenger yet we have a stream of people on here who want the use of them banned altogether even going as far as having them become disabled when they are inside a vehicle.

I beg to differ. A conversation with someone on the other end of phone is quite different from where the other person is physically present (i.e. a passenger). The latter is capable of understanding if the driver has a reason for not responding and will react appropriately by waiting until one is forthcoming. The former can't (and likely won't).

Often people chatting in the car will have almost continuous eye contact, especially wimmen ;-)

[Vipers]

Just seen this.

From March 1st 2017 If you're caught using a mobile phone behind the wheel, you will receive a £200 fine and 6 points on your licence.

[V8Matthew]

Good. If the call is so important, a Bluetooth headset can be bought for £10 or less.

[Vipers]

V8Matthew said:

Good. If the call is so important, a Bluetooth headset can be bought for £10 or less.

Indeed. But many won't.

[Mr Snrub]

Vipers said:

V8Matthew said:

Good. If the call is so important, a Bluetooth headset can be bought for £10 or less.

Indeed. But many won't.

Especially as the chances of getting caught will still be so slim

[V8Matthew]

True. As long as they're within the speed limit they can Snapchat to their heart's content.

[creampuff]

ferrariF50lover said:

The way we live and work now means that it's irrelevant what happened or how things were done even as recently as the 90s.

The world has evolved. The 'it never did me no 'arm' argument is blunter today than ever it has been in history.

There are many good arguments in favour of the banning of mobile phone use behind the wheel. 'I never had it so why should you' isn't one of them.

Well perhaps, but on the business side, companies seem to manage fine with their employees travelling by air, which with a few exceptions there is no internet access and even less voice call access. Many companies also have a total phone ban while driving, including using a handsfree system even though using a phone with such a system is lawful.

[nipsips]

I use my phone to talk a lot while driving. I have apple car play in the car so its all done through the dash. Perfectly 100% legal - and I don't see it as a distraction. I don't text/snap/facebook or anything else as that means touching the phone. I can call anyone without even looking at the display using Siri. To be honest its less of a distraction than adjusting the temperature on my climate control.

A competent driver knows when they need to concentrate, and stops talking and concentrates on the road regardless of whether they are talking to a passenger or on the phone. If you go quiet and stop talking you can generally explain within a few seconds why you stop talking.

A competent driver also knows there own abilities and is safe to decide when for example to have one hand on the wheel. The way some of you go on the car should have sensors to check whether you have two hands on the wheel and that your eyes are welded to the road ahead - if your not a big boxing glove should come out of the steering wheel and box you on the nose

Just for clarity I do many thousands of miles across England/France/Belgium/Germany incident free with minimal near misses etc before any of you bang on about my driving and that I'm a danger for daring to have a conversation whilst driving.

[Vipers]

nipsips said:

I use my phone to talk a lot while driving. I have apple car play in the car so its all done through the dash. Perfectly 100% legal - and I don't see it as a distraction. I don't text/snap/facebook or anything else as that means touching the phone. I can call anyone without even looking at the display using Siri. To be honest its less of a distraction than adjusting the temperature on my climate control.

A competent driver knows when they need to concentrate, and stops talking and concentrates on the road regardless of whether they are talking to a passenger or on the phone. If you go quiet and stop talking you can generally explain within a few seconds why you stop talking.

A competent driver also knows there own abilities and is safe to decide when for example to have one hand on the wheel. The way some of you go on the car should have sensors to check whether you have two hands on the wheel and that your eyes are welded to the road ahead - if your not a big boxing glove should come out of the steering wheel and box you on the nose

Just for clarity I do many thousands of miles across England/France/Belgium/Germany incident free with minimal near misses etc before any of you bang on about my driving and that I'm a danger for daring to have a conversation whilst driving.

All you say makes sense.

[nonsequitur]

Vipers said:

nipsips said:

I use my phone to talk a lot while driving. I have apple car play in the car so its all done through the dash. Perfectly 100% legal - and I don't see it as a distraction. I don't text/snap/facebook or anything else as that means touching the phone. I can call anyone without even looking at the display using Siri. To be honest its less of a distraction than adjusting the temperature on my climate control.

A competent driver knows when they need to concentrate, and stops talking and concentrates on the road regardless of whether they are talking to a passenger or on the phone. If you go quiet and stop talking you can generally explain within a few seconds why you stop talking.

A competent driver also knows there own abilities and is safe to decide when for example to have one hand on the wheel. The way some of you go on the car should have sensors to check whether you have two hands on the wheel and that your eyes are welded to the road ahead - if your not a big boxing glove should come out of the steering wheel and box you on the nose

Just for clarity I do many thousands of miles across England/France/Belgium/Germany incident free with minimal near misses etc before any of you bang on about my driving and that I'm a danger for daring to have a conversation whilst driving.

All you say makes sense.

Sorry, non sense.

Conducting any remote telephone conversation, however it is configured, which could involve minute details, planning, recall and comprehensive calculations and all when driving, is just plain crazy.
To repeat, 200 phone while driving fatalities and serious injury in 2016.

Edited by nonsequitur on Sunday 5th February 18:19

Edited by nonsequitur on Sunday 5th February 18:20

[nipsips]

nonsequitur said:

Sorry, non sense.

Conducting any remote telephone conversation, however it is configured, which could involve minute details, planning, recall and comprehensive calculations and all when driving, is just plain crazy.
To repeat, 200 phone while driving fatalities and serious injury in 2016.

Edited by nonsequitur on Sunday 5th February 18:19

Edited by nonsequitur on Sunday 5th February 18:20

Could but doesn't - not really sure what your point is. As previously stated i'm intelligent enough to ensure that my concentration is on the road - and if the call needs more concentration then I stop, or put it off until I can pay the required attention to it. I don't need anyone to tell me what attention I need to pay to the road, or to ban myself from doing certain tasks behind the wheel - and if Im honest the only reason we need laws like the phone law is because people are stupid and try things that shouldn't be done.

For arguments sake - I nearly got hit by a bloke earlier oncoming towards me trying to light his fag. Why is my conversation about the weather or what colour socks my partners wearing today more dangerous than him and punishable by death?

[nonsequitur]

nipsips said:

nonsequitur said:

Sorry, non sense.

Conducting any remote telephone conversation, however it is configured, which could involve minute details, planning, recall and comprehensive calculations and all when driving, is just plain crazy.
To repeat, 200 phone while driving fatalities and serious injury in 2016.

Edited by nonsequitur on Sunday 5th February 18:19

Edited by nonsequitur on Sunday 5th February 18:20

Could but doesn't - not really sure what your point is. As previously stated i'm intelligent enough to ensure that my concentration is on the road - and if the call needs more concentration then I stop, or put it off until I can pay the required attention to it. I don't need anyone to tell me what attention I need to pay to the road, or to ban myself from doing certain tasks behind the wheel - and if Im honest the only reason we need laws like the phone law is because people are stupid and try things that shouldn't be done.

For arguments sake - I nearly got hit by a bloke earlier oncoming towards me trying to light his fag. Why is my conversation about the weather or what colour socks my partners wearing today more dangerous than him and punishable by death?

Remote is the dangerous bit. However stridently you say you have complete concentration. Tell that to the victim of a recent crossover fatality locally. (driver on the phone.)

And to sidetrack the argument into fags and socks, well that just sums up the justifiction that many use when they carry out this motoring menace.