Reporting mobile use while driving

[Milkfloat]

I imagine that it is very difficult to prove that someone was on the phone when they were involved in a KSI incident, so I assume that the stats are vastly different to reality.

 

[Roseland triker]

Clearly the idiots I see with phone in hand on the M4 must have put them away by the time they cross the Severn ...

You ride on the motorway?

 

[DaveReading]

You ride on the motorway?

You mean it's OK to drive while you're on the phone, provided there are no cyclists nearby ???

 

[Roseland triker]

You mean it's OK to drive while you're on the phone, provided there are no cyclists nearby ???

Yeah sure on the motorway that's what the barriers are for right? Keep you in lane???

 

[Etern4l]

I thought there was plenty of scientific evidence that the specific types of distraction from operating hand held mobile devices, or even just talking on a hands-free phone (as opposed to conversing with a 'real' passenger) was pretty dangerous?

Would be particularly interesting to see a study which shows the difference in accident risk between using a handsfree phone, and interacting with a rowdy kid in the back, or having an argument with the passenger.

There is.

But the stats still show the number of KSI accidents caused by it is pretty small. It doesn't matter how dangerous something is, if very few people do it, then it will have little impact statistically. And while there are far too many people who do use handheld phones while driving, most of them are doing so in slow moving environments where the smashes they cause will relatvely rarely result in death or serious injury.

That's possible. It's a nice theory, but nothing more than that. Someone else could argue that if very few people used their phone in the car, you'd hardly ever see this phenomenon, and YouTube vigilantes would be out of work. Handheld phone use is very visible and would often be caught by the omnipresent CCTV and reported by witnesses.

There is also a degree of distraction being caused: a handheld phone is more distracting than a hands-free, I guess most people would agree. If we are banning handsfree phones, by the same token we should ban passengers from cars, as they can cause uncontrolled and sometimes severe distractions. Another question is whether the accident risk is caused by phones unconditionally, or only when used by certain people or by people in a certain state of mind being subjected to additional distractions (including the phone). We have entered the era of smart voice assistants and AI technologies, we don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water. There should be better solutions. Various forms of driver monitoring, driving assistance and self-driving cars spring to mind.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

From USA

• The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.
• Nearly 390,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving.
• 1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.
• Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.
• Answering a text takes away your attention for about five seconds. Traveling at 55 mph, that's enough time to travel the length of a football field.
• Texting while driving causes a 400 percent increase in time spent with eyes off the road.
• Of all cell phone related tasks, texting is by far the most dangerous activity.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Research shows the response time of a driver using a smartphone to access social media, emails or texts slows by around 37.5% (far more than after marijuana or moderate alcohol use).

 

[Etern4l]

Literally not even looking at plain text factoids without proper source references. Also, some people are incapable of processing finer points such as "completely stationary phone use might not be the same as texting while driving 55mph" or "handsfree phone use is not the same as texting while driving 55mph". Thank goodness for the ignore list.

 

[DaveReading]

Yeah sure on the motorway that's what the barriers are for right? Keep you in lane???

OMG, we've got another one here ...

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Thank goodness for the ignore list.

Indeed. Goodnight.

 

[Alex321]

You mean it's OK to drive while you're on the phone, provided there are no cyclists nearby ???

Where on earth do you get that ludicrous suggestion from?

I cannot see any way in which a reasonable person could possibly infer that meaning from what he said.

Though I would also wonder where he got the idea you might be riding when you see these people.

 

[Alex321]

Clearly the idiots I see with phone in hand on the M4 must have put them away by the time they cross the Severn ...

Why do you believe that likely?

 

[PaulSB]

I wonder how much longer the troll will be around?

 

[cyberknight]

From USA

• The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.
• Nearly 390,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving.
• 1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.
• Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.
• Answering a text takes away your attention for about five seconds. Traveling at 55 mph, that's enough time to travel the length of a football field.
• Texting while driving causes a 400 percent increase in time spent with eyes off the road.
• Of all cell phone related tasks, texting is by far the most dangerous activity.

if they cant keep themselves from shooting each other i doubt they will take the right to blab whilst pootling down the road either

 

[Deleted User]

I wonder how much longer the troll will be around?

A Troll because he has a different opinion to others on the subject?

It's called dissagreeing.