Mobile phone fine/points changes, your predictions ?

[J4CKO]

So people who use their handheld phones whilst driving will now get six points and a £200 fine.

I dont anyway, that isn't me being holier than thou, I just cant drive and operate the bloody thing without giving it my full attention and I would crash for sure so i dont, so am not really at risk but I see loads of people on them, will they stop ?

Will they just get a bit sneakier or, worst of all, get caught and play the victim ? will it be acceptable to punch someone who has been caught red handed fair and square in the gob when they start bleating about how unfair it is and how it is just to raise revenue ?

[lucido grigio]

Doubt much will change,reading Facebook at all times is SO SO important to some.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

If you walk up Holywell Hill in St Albans at least one person out of every two is fiddling with their phone whilst sat in traffic.

[spookly]

Nothing will change, as hardly anyone doing it was caught before.

[Grayedout]

Conviction rates will only increase if there are more police on the streets to catch them!

[Mill Wheel]

There will be a large number of resources thrown at this for about two weeks - three max, then enforcement will return to previous levels.

How many drivers have been pulled over for tailgating or hogging the middle lane since that was escalated to a specific offence?

[Boosted LS1]

Mill Wheel said:

There will be a large number of resources thrown at this for about two weeks - three max, then enforcement will return to previous levels.

How many drivers have been pulled over for tailgating or hogging the middle lane since that was escalated to a specific offence?

^ This! It'll be high profile and then become old news. I wish people could be told the real facts about phone related KSI's etc.

I never text or make outgoing calls but may have received one when judged to be safe to do so. There are much better ways to improve driving standards but this is just like speeding. Demonise offenders and make some kerching at the same time. Phone users used to really annoy me until I read the statistics. I just let them get on with it.

[Cold]

There will be a profusion of dashcam videos on YouTube featuring vehement head shaking by vigilante cyclists and motorbike riders.

[anonymous-user]

If courses aren't available any more then the number of FPNs is going to rise a lot this year.

[rxe]

I predict an explosion in ventilator grille mounted cradles to allow people to keep texting legally. They'll cost £3 and everyone will get one. It won't change road safety one iota.

I have no idea why the legislation demonises holding a phone with your hand, and allows facebooking on a dash mounted phone. Yes, I know that dash mounted facebookers can be nailed under other rules, but if phones are so dangerous, just ban the use of them by the driver.

[Tomo1971]

Grayedout said:

Conviction rates will only increase if there are more police on the streets to catch them!

^^ This

There is a direct link between the chance of been caught (number of police) and the penalties if caught - ie, the less chance of been caught, the higher the penalty.

[Sycamore]

The 'bad driving caught on dashcan' thread is going to have a field day

[Vipers]

Trouble is there are so many deivi gods out there who will never ever accept that it doesn't affect their driving, until the inevitable happens, and those who will say they do it daily, always have and nothing has ever happened to them.

I have said the the first offence should be £1000 and be done with it. Hands free kits are cheap.

[a.christie]

Surely pedal pushers will also be included in this new legislation. Most don`t seem to pay much attention to other road users at the best of times. I wouldn`t want an i phone wielding user stuffed in the "safety" bars of my Transit, thankyou.

[Mill Wheel]

Vipers said:

Trouble is there are so many deivi gods out there who will never ever accept that it doesn't affect their driving, until the inevitable happens, and those who will say they do it daily, always have and nothing has ever happened to them.

I have said the the first offence should be £1000 and be done with it. Hands free kits are cheap.

Phone use is like Russian roulette.

If caught, crush the phone... at the road side and six points with a decent fine.
User can then have the experience of rebuilding their contacts, etc. in a simpler fashion than victims families of phone related incidents go through as they rebuild their lives.

[Vipers]

Mill Wheel said:

Vipers said:

Trouble is there are so many deivi gods out there who will never ever accept that it doesn't affect their driving, until the inevitable happens, and those who will say they do it daily, always have and nothing has ever happened to them.

I have said the the first offence should be £1000 and be done with it. Hands free kits are cheap.

Phone use is like Russian roulette.

If caught, crush the phone... at the road side and six points with a decent fine.
User can then have the experience of rebuilding their contacts, etc. in a simpler fashion than victims families of phone related incidents go through as they rebuild their lives.

Now that is a very good post, so true.

[Johnnytheboy]

When I watch those police chase TV shows, the properly criminal drivers that try and evade capture, then turn out to have no licence/MOT/insurance often don't get fined this much and get this many points.

It seems a little out-of-scale.

[Username888]

One of the biggest things that these law changes make is awareness and publicity, furthering the notion that using your mobile whilst driving is "socially unacceptable". The media are having a field day on the story. I think this is a good thing. Driving without a seatbelt used to be socially acceptable, - now it isn't, - I suspect mobile use will go the same way in time.

I agree however - that there's just not enough Police on the streets to enforce this.

[Engineer792]

Username888 said:

One of the biggest things that these law changes make is awareness and publicity, furthering the notion that using your mobile whilst driving is "socially unacceptable". The media are having a field day on the story. I think this is a good thing. Driving without a seatbelt used to be socially acceptable, - now it isn't, - I suspect mobile use will go the same way in time.

I agree however - that there's just not enough Police on the streets to enforce this.

I would agree that it's a good thing for the reasons you state.

However, it won't be too good if they start going after the 'low-hanging fruit', eg those whose only sin was to use their mobile to tell the boss that they're stuck in a traffic jam, but unfortunately didn't think to turn the engine off before making the call

Going after such people is not in the interests of society and does not serve justice.

[Vipers]

Johnnytheboy said:

When I watch those police chase TV shows, the properly criminal drivers that try and evade capture, then turn out to have no licence/MOT/insurance often don't get fined this much and get this many points.

It seems a little out-of-scale.

Most seem odd out date/odd to me. Bin lorry falsifies medical, kills numerous people, no prosecution. Driver falls at wheel kills two jailed, (recently) just doesn't compute.