Anyone ever had just a warning for using a mobile phone?

[cartyre]

Anyone ever had just a warning for using a mobile phone when driving and didnt get any points or a fine out of interest. (I have never used a mobile phone when driving btw) just curious.

[Sebring440]

cartyre said:

Anyone ever had just a warning for using a mobile phone when driving and didnt get any points or a fine out of interest. (I have never used a mobile phone when driving btw) just curious.

You'll have to be patient and wait for the NIP.

[worsy]

IIRC when the law first came in, the majority of Police forces tended to use education rather than penalty points. That gradually moved away and I would imagine any caught driver would face 6 points these days.

So in answer to your question, yes there will be people who have been warned.

[cliffords]

Many years ago maybe 20 years ago I got stopped by this police coming out of McDonald's eating and driving the car .
I was a bit surprised and took the telling off but got no fine or points .
I thought I had been caught using my phone, as I was at the time and quickly put it under my front seat .
I think the copper had seen me using the phone and thought I was eating the burger and stopped me for that . I had not actually opened the food at that point .
The copper said I had to have both hands on the wheel to drive the car , I did not ever argue the point about changing gear etc , I just wanted to go home .

[Glassman]

There's a special place for people tapping out messages on their phones whilst driving.

The sea.

[vikingaero]

The fact that we've gone from possible warnings to 3 points then to 6 points show the amoebaism (my new word) of our Society.

And what really boils my pish is the amount of people doing so in new cars that definitely have hands free/bluetooth. And there has definitely been a rise in "single vehicle accidents" where oh my brakes failed or the car steered to the kerb on its own.

[Deranged Rover]

cartyre said:

Anyone ever had just a warning for using a mobile phone when driving....

No.

Because I don't use a mobile phone when driving.

[Lotobear]

Whilst I do not endorse the foolish act of using a mobile when driving, the law really does need updating to include the use of what are, IMO, far more distracting Ipad screens and touch screen menus in many modern cars. I find it utterly bizarre that these can be used with impunity.

[Gad-Westy]

vikingaero said:

The fact that we've gone from possible warnings to 3 points then to 6 points show the amoebaism (my new word) of our Society.

And what really boils my pish is the amount of people doing so in new cars that definitely have hands free/bluetooth. And there has definitely been a rise in "single vehicle accidents" where oh my brakes failed or the car steered to the kerb on its own.

I think a new problem isn't people making calls as such (though I agree, it's still weird seeing people with a phone to their ear in a new car) but people using their phone for social media/messaging/general internet stuff on the move. So often I'll see oncoming cars with the drivers eyes pointing downward. Not that long ago I was being followed on the A1 by a young lad and I could see clearly that his eyes were constantly moving down to a phone. Sure enough, when traffic started slowing ahead, he very nearly rear ended us. I'd left a much larger gap than usual to cars in front having clocked this guy's lack of concentration and he still only just avoided an accident. It's quite a large scale problem IMO.

[Gad-Westy]

Lotobear said:

Whilst I do not endorse the foolish act of using a mobile when driving, the law really does need updating to include the use of what are, IMO, far more distracting Ipad screens and touch screen menus in many modern cars. I find it utterly bizarre that these can be used with impunity.

Yep. Totally ridiculous situation that we have ended up in.

[Mammasaid]

Gad-Westy said:

Lotobear said:

Whilst I do not endorse the foolish act of using a mobile when driving, the law really does need updating to include the use of what are, IMO, far more distracting Ipad screens and touch screen menus in many modern cars. I find it utterly bizarre that these can be used with impunity.

Yep. Totally ridiculous situation that we have ended up in.

Tell me you don't understand the law, without telling me you don't understand the law!

You can push and prod your mobile as much as you want as long as it's not hand-held like a car's infotainment screen. What you can't do is be distracted and not in full control of your vehicle whilst doing so. So there's no difference in law between a mobile in a cradle and a infotainment screen.

[craigjm]

This is just going to turn into a thread moaning about modern cars.

[98elise]

Mammasaid said:

Gad-Westy said:

Lotobear said:

Whilst I do not endorse the foolish act of using a mobile when driving, the law really does need updating to include the use of what are, IMO, far more distracting Ipad screens and touch screen menus in many modern cars. I find it utterly bizarre that these can be used with impunity.

Yep. Totally ridiculous situation that we have ended up in.

Tell me you don't understand the law, without telling me you don't understand the law!

You can push and prod your mobile as much as you want as long as it's not hand-held like a car's infotainment screen. What you can't do is be distracted and not in full control of your vehicle whilst doing so. So there's no difference in law between a mobile in a cradle and a infotainment screen.

This. I'm amazed how many people don't understand this.

[Lotobear]

Mammasaid said:

Gad-Westy said:

Lotobear said:

Whilst I do not endorse the foolish act of using a mobile when driving, the law really does need updating to include the use of what are, IMO, far more distracting Ipad screens and touch screen menus in many modern cars. I find it utterly bizarre that these can be used with impunity.

Yep. Totally ridiculous situation that we have ended up in.

Tell me you don't understand the law, without telling me you don't understand the law!

You can push and prod your mobile as much as you want as long as it's not hand-held like a car's infotainment screen. What you can't do is be distracted and not in full control of your vehicle whilst doing so. So there's no difference in law between a mobile in a cradle and a infotainment screen.

Point of law taken, but that doesn't alter the fact that touch screens in cars are extremely distracting and, IMO, dangerous. Ditto a phone in a cradle

[Gad-Westy]

Mammasaid said:

Gad-Westy said:

Lotobear said:

Whilst I do not endorse the foolish act of using a mobile when driving, the law really does need updating to include the use of what are, IMO, far more distracting Ipad screens and touch screen menus in many modern cars. I find it utterly bizarre that these can be used with impunity.

Yep. Totally ridiculous situation that we have ended up in.

Tell me you don't understand the law, without telling me you don't understand the law!

You can push and prod your mobile as much as you want as long as it's not hand-held like a car's infotainment screen. What you can't do is be distracted and not in full control of your vehicle whilst doing so. So there's no difference in law between a mobile in a cradle and a infotainment screen.

This is about common sense and is nothing to do with understanding or not understanding the law. Though since you bring that up, it would be helpful if the law didn't refer to devices as 'hands-free' when in fact it simply means not hand-held. The reason I say that the situation is ridiculous is that if we accept that any interaction with a touchscreen away from the driver's line of view has potential to be distracting (which it is!), then common sense would dictate that you'd minimise the requirement to do so not move more and more functionality away from physical controls.

[Decky_Q]

Yeah got caught when the law had just been introduced, gave the cop a solemn promise to never use a phone while driving ever again and he had some mercy. I was 19 and on my way to collect my new Alfa 147. I dont touch phones whatsoever when driving.

[LunarOne]

Long ago in London a phone I was using for navigation fell off its mount and went into the footwell. When I came to a stop at some traffic lights I reached down to fish it out. A passing policeman on a motorbike saw me with the phone in my hand as I was about to clip it back onto the mount and gave me a warning about it. I told him my sat-nav had fallen and I suppose he either accepted it or was ready to let me off with a warning anyway.

[Arrivalist]

You really do have to be a special kind of muppet to be using a phone in hand these days. There are so many hands-free options that it’s just rank stupidity not to use such an option.

[BikeSausage]

Arrivalist said:

You really do have to be a special kind of muppet to be using a phone in hand these days. There are so many hands-free options that it s just rank stupidity not to use such an option.

How many times a day do I see idiots holding a phone, using it on speaker in a car that almost new? Do they really not have the intelligence to pair the phone just the once.

Don’t want to turn this into a Lycra-hating thread, but when out in the bike recently I snapped a chap in a Matt black RR in a queue holding his phone and using it on speaker. He reacted aggressively.

I wasn’t going to do anything with the photo, I just wanted him to realise that it’s people on foot or on a bike who come off worse when he’s not paying attention.

[kambites]

LunarOne said:

Long ago in London a phone I was using for navigation fell off its mount and went into the footwell. When I came to a stop at some traffic lights I reached down to fish it out. A passing policeman on a motorbike saw me with the phone in my hand as I was about to clip it back onto the mount and gave me a warning about it. I told him my sat-nav had fallen and I suppose he either accepted it or was ready to let me off with a warning anyway.

Similarly, I know someone who got a telling off but no NIP for using a phone while stopped at the side of the road with the engine running so there is some leeway there. I think if you're spotted using one while actually driving, it's a slam-dunk 6 points though.