Driving With a Mobile

[Lamp]

and then what? gona send ppl in prison for arguing in the car so they lose focus on driving to? or how about just sending ppl to jail for plain talking to the passengers.

coz i'm fairly certain ppl crash their cars doing that to.

No, they're obviously not going to send people to prison for arguing in the car.
Yes its a distraction, you're right.

Look, its quite simple. Driving SAFELY requires the driver to concentrate without distractions. Period. ANYTHING which distracts the driver is potentially dangerous, and that includes arguing, fiddling with the radio, lighting a ciggy, or whatever. But the government has to take a pragmatic approach, and control what it sees as COMMON distrations that are INCIDENTAL to driving.

Making a phone call is not a part of driving. This can be legislated against cos LOTS of people do it and lots of accidents are caused by people who cannot live without their phone for 5 seconds. You're doing the school run, and some idiot woman's on the phone to her sister talking about Eastenders when a kid runs out and bam ! accident.

If you HAVE to take a phone call, plan ahead, and get a hands free kit installed. There's NO excuses these days for people not to have hands free kits fitted in their cars.

 

[liloe]

ban passangers, an definatly ban kids from cars,

ban fucking kids alltogether, they annoy me and lower my pleasure of life....so away with them xD

 

[Azurus]

There's NO excuses these days for people not to have hands free kits fitted in their cars.

Money?

 

[GReaper]

Money?

There's always the cheaper bluetooth headset solution which would also keep people on the right side of the law whilst driving. You can get one for like £10-20.

Seems stupid not to get one if you really need to answer whilst driving.

 

[Amildin]

There's always the cheaper bluetooth headset solution which would also keep people on the right side of the law whilst driving. You can get one for like £10-20.

Seems stupid not to get one if you really need to answer whilst driving.

Driving round with a headpiece in my ear all the time seems really worth it for the 1-2 calls i get a week in the car. However i dont want to be in prison for 2 years for finding out the pub we're going to.

 

[Nate]

Driving round with a headpiece in my ear all the time seems really worth it for the 1-2 calls i get a week in the car. However i dont want to be in prison for 2 years for finding out the pub we're going to.

Then stop and ring them back you lazy ****.

Merry xmas!

 

[Lamp]

Money?

Bollocks. If you can afford to run a car and have a phone, you've got money to buy a £20 hands free kit. Otherwise, how are you paying for your petrol / phone credit ? (don't answer that, n00bs, its a rhetorical question)

 

[Jeros]

Well, seems that my angle on the matter isnt popular opinion, i missed the mark on this one.

Some very good points been made and marc I sympathise with your situation and a personal experience like that would certainly have an effect on my opinion.

I dont condone drink driving and soze thats quite a generalisation, but nevermind.



Great contribution there, backed up with some constructive arguing, fuck off.

Just to clear a quick thing up, i dont really condone "yakking" on the phone for simple conversations sake. Im talking about using a mobile phone to get told about a job, change of plans, tell someone about traffic etc. Useful information that cant be picked up when you finally finish your journey.

I guess I just think with all the crime that goes on for example 1 in 5 muggings in my area are solved, imo thats a lot more damaging than being on the phone for 10 secs. And i disagree with our limited police force having to push papers all day for people going 5 miles over the speed limit on an empty road. There are much more punishable crimes imo that go unsolved everyday.

There are also so many distractions in the car i dont see why this one is so controversial. No one bats an eye lid to scrolling manually for a radio station or changing a cd, which im sure you have all done and which DOES require you to take your eyes off the road. But I guess thats the power of the media.

Also, if its so dangerous to talk whilst driving, how come the police do it over the radio as part of their job. Taking vital information on addresses and crimes whilst driving, if thats not distracting I dont know what is. And yes I know its an unavoidable part of their job, but thats the same for other occupations which require information constantly over their mobile phones. Who do get prosecuted for it.

Just hope ive cleared up a few issues that i have with this hype over mobile phone usage.

Marc made my point actully, its all very well to argue as much as you like, when it happens to you or a friend things will seem VERY different, it has effected my friend and i hope the person resposible is rotting in a jail cell right now. So exuse me if i seem bias.

You cant compare changing a radio station to talking on your phone, that takes an instant thought, a phone takes a hell of a lot more brain power.

As for the police, well its the police, its there job. Other non medical or goverment proffesions will have to put up and shut up, your driving, conentrate on the dam road.

Few months back i saw something that took the fucking bisuit, a women texting, applying makeup AND looking in the rear view mirror to do the makeup WHILE DRIVING! Sometimes i wish there were more police around.

Drink drivers are just as bad, i vividly remeber some fucker chucking a vodka bottle at me as he sped past as i was going down hill on my bike, missed my face by few inches, he barley managed to make it round a corner at the end of the road.

 

[Amphrax]

I saw a delivery driver reading a paper while driving. Talking is fine imo, but doing stuff that does make you lose concentration should be banned for driving.

 

[Zede]

The laws are there for the Sheeple.

A very very small percentage of people who drive & use a mobile crash. Whats next, am i going to get arrested for say, eating an apple at the wheel ? Is a young mother going to get arrested for giving her baby a bottle to stop it screaming ?

In this silly world, there are far far more important things to worry about instead of making normal people "criminals"

On a recent "driver safety course" i went on, I was told not use the gears to stop when approaching a crossing - because it meant I only had one hand on the wheel for a second. Why ? cause the authorities are paranoid and decided 2 hands on the wheel are safter, and fuck me (far as im concerned) using the gears is a far safer way to slow down, but oh no 30 years of it being the "standard" ( to use the gears) its now wrong diddly wrong.

It is the governments job to distract us to bombard us with shite. Like, why talk about the British leaving Basra, when in the same week you could talk about going to jail for using a phone. Fuck me, they will be changing our favourite xmas songs next....

 

[Sparx]

well from my experience people with mobiles at their ear are alot more dangerous.

I've almost been hit twice this year, both times the idiot had a phone in hand. So statistically for me thats 100% near misses due to mobiles

 

[Amildin]

Fuck me, they will be changing our favourite xmas songs next....

Radio 1 actually edited the word faggot out of pogues for a day before enough people txt them telling em where to shove the pc shit. So they already tried that one...

 

[Zede]

Radio 1 actually edited the word faggot out of pogues for a day before enough people txt them telling em where to shove the pc shit. So they already tried that one...

your correct, me putting that in was not a coincidence ( i heard about it on radio 1)

 

[Amildin]

your correct, me putting that in was not a coincidence ( i heard about it on radio 1)

tbh i kinda guessed, was quite a big thing in the news and quite a random thing to say

 

[Sharma]

Why don't we just fucking ban driving and make everyone get the trains?!

Bingo, no more road accidents problem solved!

But WAIT! No, then the government would have to find a way of cash cow'ing the trains!

 

[Nate]

They could tax your legs and get every form of transport! Your legs have to get you there somehow!!! Yeah bring it on!

 

[Golena]

At some point someone will actually realise that driving is dangerous. It doesn't matter how many people you throw in jail, arrest or give points to. It doesn't matter how many hundreds of camera's you throw about the place. People doing 70mph in a metal box is never ever going to be 100% safe, and accidents will happen no matter how much you try and stop them.

Yes, i'm sure for people that have had personal experience of accidents involving driving it might be different, but you could pass every stupid law imaginable if the only reason you needed was someone that knew someone that had suffered in one way. You certainly wouldn't be able to go out and purchase a toaster anymore.

The reason for all the "nanny" state comments isn't because people should be allowed to drive around like morons having accidents every 10 minutes while talking on the phone. I remember very clearly the last time I made a phone call while driving. I was stopped at a red light, made a 20 second call to tell the person I was visiting that I was going to be 30 mins late because of traffic then hung up when the light changed to amber and cars infront started moving. I fail to see how I jepordised hundreds of lives by doing that and warrant being thrown in jail. Bad drivers should be stopped from driving because they are bad drivers. As has been pointed out already having a kid in the car is even more dangerous than talking on a phone to someone that understands your driving because they don't know when to stop and let you concentrate, even if you tell them your coming up to a busy junction. Lets ban all kids from cars, it will after all make the roads safer with only a minor inconventience to a few people!

Maybe we should ban mobiles for pedestrians as well. I'm fairly sure you could compile a huge video library on people that have caused accidents by walking out in front of a car while engaged in some argument on their phone. I'm fairly sure that talking on a phone has nothing to do with walking from A to B, and you could always stop and stand still while having the conversation if it's really so important!

It shouldn't be about banning mobiles, it should be educating the public that driving is the FIRST priority and the conversation is the SECOND. If you want to argue that it slows reaction times then why haven't we banned everyone that doesn't have twitchy PFS shooter style reactions from getting behind a wheel? I'm fairly sure the average 20 year old on a phone still has way better reaction times than most grandmothers driving about.

 

[Golena]

Here's a random thought of the day for everyone going on about this helping to save lives:

How much money do we spend on policing all this every year.
How many children in Africa could we stop dying every year with the same amount of money?
How many lives does all this arresting motorists actually save?

Has this actually got anything at all to do with saving lives?

 

[Nate]

I don't like the way your going down (on Chodax) with this Golena, are you trying to say 1 person's life isn't worth x amount of money?

 

[kirennia]

Don't know about all of you but I know for sure that talking to people about certain subjects while trying to write, play games or whatever distracts me to some degree. I'm not saying that I completely break down or anything but doing any task which requires concentration when lives are at stake, having someone talk to you about an irrelevant subject does distract you to some degree. Just start playing any (thought related) game and try talking to someone on a mobile whilst doing it and you should notice a difference.

Talking on a phone while driving is stupid and puts lives at risk in case of anything unexpected happening on the road.

 

[tierk]

Good to hear they taking the line they are with talking on phones while driving. Some of the comments on here about this subject are just plain stupid. In Qatar if the police see you talking and driving, its a hefty fine and rightly so. Why must people be personally effected by something before theyc an see the logic of the laws put intio place?

I got fined and i bought a a handsfree headset, i dont have to have it in my ear all the time but carry it in my shirt pocket when i am driving and if i get a call its piss easy to answer it, without driving like a complete cu*nt.

Anyone that reckons it doesnt effect they way they drive is full of shit and if they been doing it for ages and have not caused /had a accident i would put it down to luck and not a testament to their driving skills. You want to drive and speak get a freakin bluetooth device and stop putting peoples lives, yours included, at risk.

 

[Golena]

I don't like the way your going down (on Chodax) with this Golena, are you trying to say 1 person's life isn't worth x amount of money?

Is 1 person's life in Chelsea worth more than 20 people in Africa?

Since we don't seem to have the money to save both groups, which would you rather save?

 

[Golena]

Why must people be personally effected by something before they can see the logic of the laws put in to place?

I can see the logic in it sure. It doesn't mean I have to instantly agree that it's a fantastic idea.

Anyone that reckons it doesnt effect they way they drive is full of shit and if they been doing it for ages and have not caused /had a accident i would put it down to luck and not a testament to their driving skills. You want to drive and speak get a freakin bluetooth device and stop putting peoples lives, yours included, at risk.

Funny how you complain people arn't able to see your views, while at the same time being completely unable to see other people's views.
I've talked to people on a mobile while driving. I either do it while parked at a red light, or stuck in a traffic jam doing 2 mph, where i'm hardly going to mow down 7 children. I don't sit there for 30 minutes having a blazing row with my ex-wife about something while attempting to drive at 40 round a suburban estate. Once again the Goverment has decided that because a few people can't do something responsably, everyone shouldn'tbe able to do it, regardless of if they are putting people at risk or not.

So now if i'm stuck on the M1 in stationary traffic, i've got to wait 40 minutes to get to the next exit, pull off, spend 10 minutes trying to find somewhere that I can safely pull over, spend 20 minutes trying to find my way back to the motorway, all to avoid spending 10 seconds telling someone i'm going to be late while stationary anyway, or risk a jail sentance!
There was already a driving offence called driving without due care and attention that should of meant the people charging around putting lives at risk using a mobile could be charged. They didn't need a new law to get rid of the idiots. Instead they are now just inconveniencing all the people that could use it sensibly. And the best bit, the people who thought they could talk on a mobile while safely driving are going to be spending that extra thought time observing the road. Ofc not, they will be nattering to the person next to them. Yelling at their kids. Staring at the cute woman walking down the other side of the road. And will STILL drive into you anyway! While the police charge to question the person stopped on the other side of the road using his phone.

 

[tierk]

...........Funny how you complain people arn't able to see your views, while at the same time being completely unable to see other people's views.........

I am always open to new ideas or good ideas, at no point in this discussion do you make any. You just arent making a valid point as far as i am concerned.

...........I've talked to people on a mobile while driving. I either do it while parked at a red light, or stuck in a traffic jam doing 2 mph, where i'm hardly going to mow down 7 children. .........

If this is the way that you make calls all the time while driving, great, however, this is not the way that most other people use their fones while driving and the road is full of twats on phones while driving at speed trying to take turns round abouts etc.

...........I don't sit there for 30 minutes having a blazing row with my ex-wife about something while attempting to drive at 40 round a suburban estate. .........

You seem to think that this legislation is some sort of personal attack on you, it isnt.

...........Once again the Goverment has decided that because a few people can't do something responsably, everyone shouldn'tbe able to do it, regardless of if they are putting people at risk or not..........

Well considering that driving with due care has been a law in the UK for an age and that they have asked people to stop doing it while driving (talking on fones) for a age and people have disregarded the advice it is the only way forward.

...........So now if i'm stuck on the M1 in stationary traffic, i've got to wait 40 minutes to get to the next exit, pull off, spend 10 minutes trying to find somewhere that I can safely pull over, spend 20 minutes trying to find my way back to the motorway, all to avoid spending 10 seconds telling someone i'm going to be late while stationary anyway, or risk a jail sentance!..........

How about you pull over into the hard shoulder on the motorway for ten secs seeing as the traffic is not moving anyway? Or better still stop go and spend twenty pounds on a freakin Bluetooth device??

...........They didn't need a new law to get rid of the idiots. Instead they are now just inconveniencing all the people that could use it sensibly........

Ooooooooh twenty quid is just such a inconvienience now isnt it??

............Ofc not, they will be nattering to the person next to them. Yelling at their kids. Staring at the cute woman walking down the other side of the road..........

Try doing those things while you are also talking on a phone.

I just dont get what your problem is, buy a freakin headset that allows you to talk while driving. If you can afford a car in the UK and keep it on the road legitmately (road tax, insurance, MoT, services and petrol) you sure as hell can afford a bluetooth device.

 

[Zede]

Good to hear they taking the line they are with talking on phones while driving. Some of the comments on here about this subject are just plain stupid. In Qatar if the police see you talking and driving, its a hefty fine and rightly so. Why must people be personally effected by something before theyc an see the logic of the laws put intio place?

I got fined and i bought a a handsfree headset, i dont have to have it in my ear all the time but carry it in my shirt pocket when i am driving and if i get a call its piss easy to answer it, without driving like a complete cu*nt.

Anyone that reckons it doesnt effect they way they drive is full of shit and if they been doing it for ages and have not caused /had a accident i would put it down to luck and not a testament to their driving skills. You want to drive and speak get a freakin bluetooth device and stop putting peoples lives, yours included, at risk.

Ive been driving for 19 years. Ive driven on average 10,000 miles a year - A roads, Motorways, B roads, the lot. Sooo, with approx 190,000 miles under my belt, im sorry - that fact I have 19 years " no claims " has FUCK ALL to do with luck. You are totally wrong. I have driven loads of time with one had on the wheel & 1 hand on phone. I dont feel guilty, I supremely confident Im not going to kill/injure anyone whilst doing the evil act.

At the wheel, in the last month I have also : Eaten an apple. lite a cigarette, munched on a bacon sandwich, put a bag from the front seat onto the back seat, leaned over and wound down the other front window, opened the door & closed it cause' it were not shut properly, opened the window & sprayed deicer on the windscreen, oh yer and answered the phone.

A THOUSAND people die in the UK each year falling down the stairs - do we start a government campaign, tv adverts, B i l b oard posters etc... about the very apparent "dangers" of living in a "house"

ONE HUNDRED people each year in the UK,, go to B&Q ( DIY store) and within an hour of doing so are brown bread dead, due to using the stuff they bought. Do we put big sign up all over b&q saying " DANGER BUYING THIS WALLPAPER COULD KILL YOU"

As yes at the age of 19 I had a close friend die & 2 other messed up because of a car accident. Education & revaluation of those who think they can driver is whats needed. Im Totally convinced 90% of people who drive could if needed, talk on the phone whilst driving. Laws like this are for the sheeple, my advice is not to be one.

ps your living in a muslim country, no wonder your fucking scared.

 

[tierk]

Ive been driving for 19 years..........

I have been driving a car for 15 years and with a lot more mileage then you have and i have done all the things that you describe (eating, windows, talking etc) while driving and guess what no accidents either. Doesnt mean shit. Researchers have done there home work on this matter and regardless of what you think or say on this matter, you are wrong and are a accident waiting to happen.

Read and enlighten yourself.


Role of mobile phones in motor vehicle crashes resulting in hospital attendance: a case-crossover study -- McEvoy et al., 10.1136/bmj.38537.397512.55 -- BMJ

You might want to follow some of those links at the bottom just to confirm what effect driving and talking on phones have.

Tell me if you driving a manual car is it it easy to change gear with a phone in your hand? How about when you chating away and come to a roundabout or need to turn the car, is it easy to do while chatting on your phone? Get a blue tooth headset you tight fooker.

.....ps your living in a muslim country, no wonder your fucking scared.

You're an idiot.

 

[Zede]

I have been driving a car for 15 years and with a lot more mileage then you have and i have done all the things that you describe (eating, windows, talking etc) while driving and guess what no accidents either. Doesnt mean shit. Researchers have done there home work on this matter and regardless of what you think or say on this matter, you are wrong and are a accident waiting to happen.

Read and enlighten yourself.


Role of mobile phones in motor vehicle crashes resulting in hospital attendance: a case-crossover study -- McEvoy et al., 10.1136/bmj.38537.397512.55 -- BMJ

You might want to follow some of those links at the bottom just to confirm what effect driving and talking on phones have.

Tell me if you driving a manual car is it it easy to change gear with a phone in your hand? How about when you chating away and come to a roundabout or need to turn the car, is it easy to do while chatting on your phone? Get a blue tooth headset you tight fooker.



You're an idiot.

Your missing the point ENTIRELY, im just a good driver. Yes they do exist, please give me some fuckin credit. And dont state the remedial obvious - " an accident waiting to happen" yes your 100% right. You see i know this is a very small chance, just like putting up wallpaper could kill me, or falling down the stairs could kill me.

I have always driven a manual. Oh and i have also been in logistics for 17 years owned my own company for the last 5, and ran on average of 10 vehicles a week, each doing on average 1500 a miles a week. I dont need to work it all out to tell you thats a pretty big slice if whats possible. I dont need some idiots in your 100% truthful survey telling me " driving with a phone is bad m'kay" Oh did i mention, not ONE case of my driver crashing/causing acccidents whilst being on the phone. I employ good drivers - did u see those word again " GOOD DRIVERS "

Dont get all pompus about being cool about working in a middle east country. Its a simple fact ( explained by yourself here) that If we were to just talk at the wheel, you would have 75% of the UK driving population banned within a week ( with Qatar laws). Living under fucked up laws most of which were decided by some deranged cleric in the middle ages, certainly scares the shit out of me. If you were not getting paid silly money u would not even be there.


ps I just read that PATHETIC article you decided to enlighten us all with. Please post something with a little more credance, something thats actually official instead of some health care sponored doctors from dunfucksville usa using already known idiots in the survery, gratz !!! I gotta lol at your angle here....

 

[tierk]

Your missing the point ENTIRELY, im just a good driver......

Just enlighten me would you, why do they call an accident a accident? Regardless of how good a driver you are shit happens and if, as the research shows, talking on the phone effects the way you drive, then why on earth is it such a hard thing to buy a device that will reduce the risk of accidents?

.....I have always driven a manual. Oh and i have also been in logistics for 17 years owned my own company for the last 5, and ran on average of 10 vehicles a week, each doing on average 1500 a miles a week. I dont need to work it all out to tell you thats a pretty big slice if whats possible. I dont need some idiots in your 100% truthful survey telling me " driving with a phone is bad m'kay" Oh did i mention, not ONE case of my driver crashing/causing acccidents whilst being on the phone. I employ good drivers - did u see those word again " GOOD DRIVERS "....

Thanks for the resume now tell me suppose you get stopped by a policeman, how is he supposed to know that you are a good driver? What about the next guy who isnt such a good driver, how is he supposed to know? (btw i dont think that your record of driving has any bearing on the matter, still think you should be using a handsfree set in your car regardless).

.....Dont get all pompus about being cool about working in a middle east country. .....

Whats this have to do with anything? You have issues with me working in the middle east, is it a crime of some sort?

.....Its a simple fact ( explained by yourself here) that If we were to just talk at the wheel, you would have 75% of the UK driving population banned within a week ( with Qatar laws)......

You obviously dont know how to read. Where do i say that in Qatar you get banned for talking on the fone? What i did say was........

.......In Qatar if the police see you talking and driving, its a hefty fine and rightly so..........

Hope that helps clear things up for you a bit.

.....Living under fucked up laws most of which were decided by some deranged cleric in the middle ages, certainly scares the shit out of me.....

Do you even know where Qatar is? Have you any idea of what you are talking about? The above is just a great display of your very limited knowledge of the area, its laws and the people. But whatever floats your boat.

.....If you were not getting paid silly money u would not even be there.....

Wrong again. Have a lot of family here in Qatar most of whom where born here. My father lived and worked in Qatar for over 60 years. One part you did get right though i get paid a fat load of cash every month and guess what no TAX either. Life out here is faaaar better then anything in the UK. Ask people who have lived and worked out here (hawkwind for example) before posting drivel that only highlights you mindset and your prejudices.

.....ps I just read that PATHETIC article you decided to enlighten us all with. Please post something with a little more credance, something thats actually official instead of some health care sponored doctors from dunfucksville usa using already known idiots in the survery, gratz !!! I gotta lol at your angle here....

After showing your inability to read a eight line post i made earlier in the thread i find it hard to believe that you read the link i gave you. However, i suggest that you go and do some more reading on the issue of driving while talking on the fone. Some reports show that even people that use bluetooth devices are still distracted while driving, just not as bad as a person using a hand held one.

I am guessing cuz you are such a great driver all this research is naturally all wrong.

 

[ZiggY]

its ok if your royalty a mp or someone famous tho!

 

[Golena]

You seem to think that this legislation is some sort of personal attack on you, it isnt.

It's a law that effects me. No it's not a personal attack but it does effect me so I should be allowed an opinion on it.

Well considering that driving with due care has been a law in the UK for an age and that they have asked people to stop doing it while driving (talking on fones) for a age and people have disregarded the advice it is the only way forward.

It is the only way forward?
How about using the EXISTING legislation that alowed them to pull these idiots over and give them points/jail sentances then. No instead they need a law that allows them to also pull over people that arn't being stupid or putting people's lives in danger.

How about you pull over into the hard shoulder on the motorway for ten secs seeing as the traffic is not moving anyway? Or better still stop go and spend twenty pounds on a freakin Bluetooth device??

Not 100% sure on the and really can't be arsed to research it, but i'm fairly sure that (yes you guessed it) pulling over onto the hard shoulder if you don't have an actual emergency is against the law. Emergency vehicles use the hard shoulder to get to the scene of an accident in motorway traffic jams. I can assure you that having 700 motorists in the hard shoulder making a quick phone call to inform the person they are visiting they will be late since there's a jam will be MUCH MUCH MUCH more dangerous than how it is currently!!

I just dont get what your problem is, buy a freakin headset that allows you to talk while driving. If you can afford a car in the UK and keep it on the road legitmately (road tax, insurance, MoT, services and petrol) you sure as hell can afford a bluetooth device.

And i'm fairly sure that for the 1 phone call I get a month while i'm driving that trying to locate the headset when the phone rings, attach it to my ear, then work out how to get the phone to actually answer using it will again be MUCH more dangerous than just picking up the phone and having the 10 second conversation. It's almost like the government wants me to be more dangerous following the letter of the law.


One more time:
They had a law for dealing with idiots not paying attention. This makes NO difference to the people your all describing charging round mowing people down with a phone pressed to their ear. None at all. This ONLY effects people who used the phone in a sensible none stupid manner beforehand.
Please take all the arguments about some idiot driving round a busy junction with a mobile somewhere else. They were breaking the law before and are not breaking the law any more now. If you used your mobile in a sensible, none life threatning manner then your now screwed. And to top it off, you'll still see the same idiots driving round on their mobiles, safe in the knowledge that they wern't arrested previously and no doubt still won't be arrested these days since all the policemen got replaced with camera's designed to catch normal drivers, since ofc all the speeders know exactly where they are anyway.