New mobile phone laws

[jefmcg]

By your idea, you are taking a positive step and you are therefore directly responsible for the harm caused as a result of your banning phone.

What harms in the real world? The drunken drivers who refuse a request to pull over and let someone out? The kidnap victims whose attackers mysteriously don't take their phone away? Please list examples of those incidences in the last (say) decade.

 

[spen666]

What harms in the real world? The drunken drivers who refuse a request to pull over and let someone out? The kidnap victims whose attackers mysteriously don't take their phone away? Please list examples of those incidences in the last (say) decade.

so like I say you go to tell the family of victims of drunk drivers and violent psychopaths that you took action to prevent them being able to take action to save themselves.

You fail to see the difference in the 2 sides of the coin. In one you are deliberately taking an action that prevents someone getting help.

 

[spen666]

I reckon the distracted driver, the drunk driver, and the kidnapper to be responsible for their respective actions.

They are responsible for their actions as are you for your action in preventing the victim being able to get help


Any action should be taken to deal with the guilty party, not to punish the innocent in case someone may do something wrong


The number of people killed and seriously injured by people distracted by phones does not justify the draconian restrictions you are placing on law abiding people

 

[spen666]

Don't be daft. That's a stupid comparison to make. They're not analogous in any way.

Ok then you do something and you are not responsible for your actions?

I think someone has been on the cooking sherry


You and you alone are responsible for your actions in the same way I am responsible for mine

 

[spen666]

As I said back up thread, your examples are outliers.

No more than yours are


Billions of miles are driven every year and the number of people killed and seriously injured by motorists distracted by telephones is in comparison minimal

 

[ufkacbln]

On that basis we could dispense with any traffic laws whatsoever.

That has already been argued as the reason why cyclists should be exempt from the law regarding mobile phones

Too few accidents to make it a danger and therefore should not be enforced for cyclists

Interesting how the same argument is "valid" for one group and "invalid" for the other

 

[mjr]

And every so often we might stop and break out the Primus stove to brew up so tea.

When more main roads had maintained picnic areas (several along Washway Road, Brandon Creek, and so on), perhaps, although we more often just took a thermos. Why are picnic areas being left to rot? Most of the toilets are gone or often closed, many of the cafes demolished and most are generally tatty husks of their former selves. Nothing like the French aires... although I guess few of them are accessible by bike so maybe people on this site won't care

 

[marzjennings]

I think you misunderstand what that graph represents...

Probably, a quick find of the web to support a position where I don't think the introduction and massive proliferation of cellphones ever materialized as a massacre on the roads. Again, not saying that drivers shouldn't avoid all distractions while driving, but suggesting there's been some spurious arm waving with regards to the dangers of making a phone call.

 

[ufkacbln]

There are so many causes of death, but at what level do they reach a stage where legislation (and enforcement of that legislation) is required?

How do we actually measure that danger and as a result of that measurement decide on the level of censure?


One popular comparison with phone use is that it is an "equivalent" to drink driving. Sources differ, but a common claim is that using a phone slows reaction two to three times more than driving at the drink drive limit.

Should phones therefore be considered more dangerous than drink driving because the impairment, is far greater for phone use or on the other hand, do we consider that in a year (2012) 280 people were killed by drink driving and 17 caused by phone use and consider the outcome and that drink driving is more dangerous



(As always there is an issue with accuracy. "In Car distraction" can be anything from talking to a passenger, dealing with a screaming child, eating, smoking, changing a CD or altering a Satnav as well as the use of phones. This skews the statistics as some of these are going to add to the number attributable to phones as they were not specifically recorded as such. So the number of deaths caused by phones could be greater)

 

[ufkacbln]

Given that it is slightly out of date, so phones have developed and it is based in the US, this article compares drink driving and cell phone use and the effect on drivers, it is quite interesting and the answers are not as simple as one would expect


A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

Is that wrong?

Not at all Perfect behaviour on a motorway - As they say, if you see brake lights on a motorway you're usually seeing a bad driver.
I mixed my metaphors a bit, the braking thing was about normal roads. So much these days you see someone brake when turning off a road and followers nearly run into the back of them or the cars behind them.

 

[ufkacbln]

Interesting ad on Channel 5 today. I can't find it on YouTube yet

Woman picks up "rolling drunk" husband from pub and drives him home.

On the way she starts to text and he offers to drive

She responds by stating the text is important, doesn't know what she was thinking of and asks the drunk husband to drive.

The message is then that you are twice as likely to crash whilst on the phone as whilst drunk!

I do like this one from Canada:

 

[ufkacbln]

Just to be pedantic, the Canadians lifted it from NZ.

The version is from Canada and badged as such, I will let them worry about the Copyright........

 

[ufkacbln]

If you are that concerned, I am sure the United Nations will intervene at your request and prevent the oncoming international incident.

In the meanwhile howzabout contributing constructively to the actual thread?