New Guidelines for Mobile Phones

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summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Yeah:biggrin::biggrin: ... change in the interpretation of the law ....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7153070.stm

so that it can come under Dangerous Driving....

Saw on the TV that some reasearch guy reckoned talking on the mobile whilst driving (whether hands free or not) increased the risk of a crash by 4 times....

Also on same interview was some professional drivers representative who seemed to think that drivers who drove for a living had a much higher standard of driving than the bog standard motorist. (I certainly don't think all professional drivers do ... although I will agree that there are good truck/bus etc drivers out there).
 
Will the threat be actioned ?
 

JamesAC

Senior Member
Location
London
I drew up alongside a car half stopped in an ASL. The driver was gabbing on his mobile. He saw me looking, and chucked the phone over to his mate, and then put his hand back to his ear as though he was scratching it, whilst his mate pretended to be making the call!!

I laughed like a drain!!;):biggrin::biggrin:

However, using mobile phones whilst driving is endemic. Drink-driving appears to be largely unacceptable and viewed as antisocial, but mobile phone use isn't. Alarming, then, the TRRL research shows that use of a mobile (hands free or not) is more dangerous than driving whilst over the limit.

I usually point at mobile phoning drivers and shout very loudly "Mobile Phone" which is probably counter-productive, 'cos the poor distracted sods get even more distracted.:cry:
 

Pete

Guest
It is probably the third most flouted motoring law, following speeding and red-light jumping. I often wonder whether I ought to be a 'good citizen' and shop offenders, especially seeing as our local (Sussex) police force now has a website specifically set up for this very purpose. I might feel a bit inhibited about using it if the offender became liable for a severe penalty in consequence (it's the usual Concerned Citizen's reaction - 'He did wrong but I didn't want the book thrown at him Officer') but I imagine that, merely for a violation reported by a member of the public, the result would still in most cases be a caution. And one day such action might save a life. Perhaps I should get down to it and start taking numbers...
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
I believe, from what I heard on the radio, that the threat of jail is not for people who just happen to be caught on the road, but for people involved in accidents deemed to be caused by the use of the phone - so that phone use has been added to speeding and other aggravating factors... So just dobbing someone in shouldn't result in a stiffer penalty. It was nice to hear this on Today, that both interviewees agreed on the dangers of phone use -and one of them was an RAC spokeswoman, the other a chap from a parliamentary committee. Both made the point tht stopping phone use while driving, in non-crash situations, isn't really much down to level of punishment, but to level of actual policing - it makes far more impact if someone is nabbed, or has a mate who's nabbed, than if the penalty just gets worse on paper but no one is ever stopped. It's all down, as ever, to having more police out there to do the job.

Or perhaps, I need to get out in my Polite vest and start knocking on a few windows....:?:
 

Maz

Guru
The level of my protest at seeing drivers on phones is limited to a stern gaze. Once I was so angry, I combined it with a shake of the head.
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
more spin and pr politics

the existing laws are fine but they never enforce them

remember the shock when it was made an offence, for the first week, until everyone realised nothing would happen

no-one every gets done for dangerous driving, even when it's blatant, because the CPS are gutless and weak and 'it's too difficult to prove'
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
A few weeks ago, I was trundling along in a cycle/bus lane, traffic to my right a bit slower than me. One car ahead kept weaving left and right, I slowed down to come up to it slowly, I had no idea what it was doing, in and out of the bus lane like that. I got close, saw the driver was on her mobile phone. I accelerated past when she was going in a more or less straight line, and yelled 'Get off your damned phone'. Unusual for me, I don't normally yell at someone for something like that or I'd be hoarse all the time :?:

She chose to let the entire road know her feelings on the subject by sounding her horn intermittently for at lest, oh, 15 seconds or so, well past the time she would have still been able to see me...

So yeah, stiffer penalties. They're ignoring the current ones and plod aren't looking very interested in imposing weak penalties.
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
you don't need a stiff penalty for this, what is now, s spot fine and some points?

the problem is carrying it out

like much or recent legislation, the govt make law with an eye to the gallery, it shows they're dealing with things, the actual effect of most of it is nil

don't forget they've told the courts over and over not to send people to jail unless absolutely necessary

and yes, it infuriates me too, phones just have to be answered don't they

how did society function before mobile phones?
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
Arch said:
...it makes far more impact if someone is nabbed, or has a mate who's nabbed, than if the penalty just gets worse on paper but no one is ever stopped. It's all down, as ever, to having more police out there to do the job.

Hear hear Arch. I read a few police blogs, and they make similar comments (that it's all very well making more stuff illegal, but police/courts etc need to be able to handle the enforcement if it's to make a blind bit of difference).

My experience is that the strictures on mobile use are ignored pretty much habitually - not just in terms of carrying on a conversation, I've commented before that its not unusual to see people staring intently at the text they're writing whilst in traffic, instead of watching for people filtering/moving either side etc.
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
what was wrong with driving without due care and attention?

it clearly comes under that, they passed this law so show that they'd 'dealt with it' so it's the police and court's fault now
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
Plod rarely take action on this law because its a lot of work for a tiny penalty. I think its that simple. Its like a lot of petty crime, it gets ignored.
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
It's not a petty crime is it though, presumably it'll only become worth bothering about when there's an accident and the use of a phone will give the prosecution and easy conviction
 
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