Driving while on a mobile phone!

Billy the Fish said:

To be fair I can understand why people would think I'm an ar5ehole for saying this. I do however believe what I'm saying, perhaps I'm wrong on some levels, on others I know I'm right. That's life, you don't have to play by the rules all the time, I'm happy to make my decisions and fall o my sword if I need to.

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"I'm happy to make my decisions and fall on my sword if I need to"

Let me correct that for you.

"I'm happy to make my decisions and kill a child if I need to"

We have CCTV, Speed, Bus Lane, NPR Cameras etc why cant one of these be developed to photograph phone users.

Clive Walker said:

You may have to give me an example, but in my opinion a monetary fine is the only way to deter all people. I think a 3/6/9 month driving suspension may be more of a deterrent but far too costly and complicated to manage because the numbers of people on suspension would be far greater.

I don’t actually think the gov make much money as the fines are so petty. But if they do then its just an added bonus!

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Fine, Suspension, and forfeiture of vehicle for length of suspension (irrespective of vehicle owner) Hit 'em where it hurts. Tough love. Whatever!

Rogero said:

I think that I read that in any accident police will be looking at every mobile phone to see if they were in use.

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That will take forever, they should just stick to the phones in the car.

dadams2k11 said:

Would you agree that drivers are targets to make money Clive regardless of the rights or wrongs of using a phone behind the wheel?

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I'm with you. Let's ban anyone from driving for three months who parks illegally, speeds or is caught using a phone at the wheel.

keaton said:

I'm with you. Let's ban anyone from driving for three months who parks illegally, speeds or is caught using a phone at the wheel.

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It would certainly clear up the roads for those of us who never break the law.

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Uncle C said:

"I'm happy to make my decisions and fall on my sword if I need to"

Let me correct that for you.

"I'm happy to make my decisions and kill a child if I need to"

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The children of Mile Oak are safe near me, don't worry about them!

It is interesting how killing children is always used to validate argument X.

I wonder what the reality is. Of all the car accidents last year how many were caused by the driver being on a phone. Out of those how many resulted in a fatality and out of those how many were children. Out of those how many were caused by their own parents.

Billy the Fish said:

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The children of Mile Oak are safe near me, don't worry about them!

It is interesting how killing children is always used to validate argument X.

I wonder what the reality is. Of all the car accidents last year how many were caused by the driver being on a phone. Out of those how many resulted in a fatality and out of those how many were children. Out of those how many were caused by their own parents.

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OMG please stop!

For The U.S, trying to find UK stats.

Cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year, according to the journal's publisher, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

The reason is now obvious:

Behind the Statistics
Are Cell Phones Really So Dangerous?

Drivers talking on cell phones were 18 percent slower to react to brake lights, the new study found. In a minor bright note, they also kept a 12 percent greater following distance. But they also took 17 percent longer to regain the speed they lost when they braked. That frustrates everyone.

"Once drivers on cell phones hit the brakes, it takes them longer to get back into the normal flow of traffic," Strayer said. "The net result is they are impeding the overall flow of traffic."

Strayer and his colleagues have been down this road before. In 2001, they found that even hands-free cell phone use distracted drivers. In 2003 they revealed a reason: Drivers look but don't see, because they're distracted by the conversation. The scientists also found previously that chatty motorists are less adept than drunken drivers with blood alcohol levels exceeding 0.08.

Separate research last year at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign supported the conclusion that hands-free cell phone use causes driver distraction.

Billy the Fish said:

]

The children of Mile Oak are safe near me, don't worry about them!

It is interesting how killing children is always used to validate argument X.

I wonder what the reality is. Of all the car accidents last year how many were caused by the driver being on a phone. Out of those how many resulted in a fatality and out of those how many were children. Out of those how many were caused by their own parents.

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You sir are a grade a fool.

1. LA Commuter Train Crash. This horrific train crash that happened in September was the deadliest train crash in the United States in almost two decades and it has been found that text messaging by the train’s crew is at least partially to blame for the crash. It was discovered that the Metrolink engineer who failed to stop the train at a signal had sent or received over forty text messages and made four calls during his shift that day, including one message sent less than half a minute prior to the crash. Although there were many other factors involved in the crash, including reported drug use by crew members, text messaging has been labeled as one of the key reasons that this accident occurred. The crash cost the lives of 25 people and cost over $10 million in damages.

2. The Case of Lord Ahmed. This man is a member of the House of Lords and holds the distinction of being the first Muslim life peer for the United Kingdom. He is also someone who only recently got out of jail after he was involved in a fatal car accident involving not one but two mobile phones. First, there was the man that he hit who was a drunk driver that crashed his own car. He exited the car but then decided to return to the car because he needed to get his mobile phone. While he was doing that, Lord Ahmed was busy in the area sending multiple text messages while driving. Distracted, he didn’t see the man returning to his car to get his mobile phone and he hit and killed the man. He spent a bit of time in jail but ultimately his sentence was changed from “causing death by dangerous driving” to simply “dangerous driving” and he is now free.

3. Going Back for a Mobile Phone. Apparently this problem of going back to get a mobile phone and then ending up in a car accident is neither rare nor new. Back in 2003, there was a man in Austria who managed to get run over by his own car as a result of needing to go get his mobile phone. He had left the phone inside the house so he exited his car, went in and got it. When he came back, he saw his car rolling down the driveway where he’d left it running. His solution was to throw himself at the car and the result was a series of broken limbs. But at least he had his cell phone to call for help.

4. Smashing into Stopped Cars. A quick scan through the history of accidents involving cell phones shows that there are a whole series of accidents caused by distracted drivers who slam into cars that are actually stopped. For example, a UK woman recently sent over twenty text messages while driving at 70mph before she slammed into the car of a woman who was stopped in the street due to a flat tire. The woman was killed.

5. Driver in Denial. There was a case in 2006 of a lorry driver who killed a woman while he was driving using his cell phone. The case is comparable to many other cases of truck drivers hitting smaller cars while mis-using their mobile phones on the road. He was distracted while entering a number into his phone, hit a car that was at a complete stop and basically rolled right on to it, crushing the female driver to death and causing her car to light on fire and burn her body. Half a dozen other vehicles were damaged in the accident. What stands out as unique in this case is the fact that the driver immediately denied using the mobile phone and later blamed the accident on his bouts with depression and anxiety.

6. Death of Five Cheerleaders. Another case where the driver of a large vehicle (this time a tractor trailer) hit a small car and caused a fatal accident happened back in 2007 in Western New York. A car carrying five cheerleaders who were just celebrating their high school graduation together was hit by a driver who was distracted because he was text messaging on the road. All five girls were killed.

7. Hit and Run After Hitting 2 Teens. It’s just plain wrong to hit someone with your car and then leave the scene of the crime which is exactly what happened in this case. Two fifteen-year old best friends were walking down the street when a man distracted by trying to plug in his cell phone plowed his car right into them. He panicked and left the scene of the crime; one of the girls was killed.

8. 2 Separate Accidents, 2 9-Year-Olds Die. Colorado has had some serious problems in the recent past with cell phone car accidents. In the span of just three months there have been two different incidents in which a nine-year-old child has died after being struck by a car driven by someone who was distracted by a cell phone. In one case a car with three boys in it was hit by a driver on a cell phone. In the other case, a little girl on a bike was hit by a distracted driver. In both cases, there is nothing but carelessness to blame for the children’s deaths.

9. Mother and Child See Father and Baby Die. Imagine that you are driving along in your car with one of your children while your husband is driving in a separate car with your other child. You’re probably planning to all head back home and make dinner. What happens instead is that your husband is talking on the phone, gets distracted while trying to end the call and ends up crashing the car, killing both himself and your two-year-old baby. That’s what happened in Abu Dhabi last year and it’s probably pretty safe to assume that the mother is still reeling from the accident.

10. Surviving Child Fights for Cell Phone Ban. Jacy Good has become “the ‘face’ of a state House effort to ban hand-held cell phone use by drivers and to make text messaging while driving illegal” after she herself survived a horrible car accident caused by a driver who was distracted while using a mobile phone. Her story is just one of those tragic stories that is awfully good for evoking human emotion about issues like these. She had just graduated from college and her parents had picked up her and her belongings to bring her back home. They were on their way home with all of her stuff when the distracted driver hit the car and both parents were killed. Good suffered massive injuries (like a broken pelvis) and has now devoted her life to working on changing cell phone laws.

Billy the Fish said:

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The children of Mile Oak are safe near me, don't worry about them!

It is interesting how killing children is always used to validate argument X.

I wonder what the reality is. Of all the car accidents last year how many were caused by the driver being on a phone. Out of those how many resulted in a fatality and out of those how many were children. Out of those how many were caused by their own parents.

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I'd say one child a decade being hit by a car because a driver selfishly texting or using a phone is too many. It's not a right to drive a year.

Billy the Fish said:

]

The children of Mile Oak are safe near me, don't worry about them!

It is interesting how killing children is always used to validate argument X.

I wonder what the reality is. Of all the car accidents last year how many were caused by the driver being on a phone. Out of those how many resulted in a fatality and out of those how many were children. Out of those how many were caused by their own parents.

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Maybe just a handful of children a year? I'm sure that would be a great comfort to their families, or to yo when you are sitting in a prison cell, or for your family while you are sitting in a prison cell because you thought you were the special case who was such a great driver you could defy all research, all statistics, all PROOF!

Nibble said:

That will take forever, they should just stick to the phones in the car.

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That made me laugh so much i spat my coffee in my lap and missed my turning.

So we have been discussing one mobile phone being used.

This brain dead freak was using two at the same time whilst 'driving' resulting in the death of an innocent motorist.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/national/11379540.Crash_victim_family_in_mobiles_plea/

Completly agree, one of my pet hates. I also think that smoking whilst driving is just as dangerous. (Not sure if this is even banned?) - not only are these people dropping fag butts onto our roads, they are potentially putting other road users at risk. Lets say, they drop their ciggerette, it either burns them, causing a quick uncontrolled reaction, or it bounces under their chair causing them to reach down to pick it up (or run the risk of a fire).

dadams2k11 said:

A family member could easily be killed by a driver whos tyre as blown out on the motor way. We all risk our life's every single time we get behind the wheel. It is a known fact that drivers are targeted when it comes to making money.

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So nothing should be done to reduce the risks then?

How often does a tyre blow out? and how many accidents resulting in serious injury or death have there been because of a blown tyre? - I 'd say it was a fairly rare event, and something that is required to be kept at a certain standard and should be checked regularly by the driver (before every journey) to ensure it is safe (no damage, splitting, legal tread depth, etc)

Do you here people claiming that the MOT is just a money grabbing scheme and has nothing to do with raod safety, in terms of ensuring that a vehicle is roadworthy?

The chances of an accident due to a tyre blow out is reduced because of this type of preventative action, so why shouldn't there be preventative action by the authorities to try to reduce or even prevent accidents from things like mobile phone usage (non hands free use) excess speed (meaning the results of an accident are greater) and so on.

Would you be happy if a family member of yours was injured or killed on the UK roads just because the otherr driver felt the need to update their facebook status whilst travelling at speed and drifting into oncoming traffic because they were not paying attention? - do you think that need to update is worth ruining a family's life? Or do you think its better if that person wait until they were able to pull over safely to make that post if they really need to make it at all?

Billy the Fish said:

That's a risk you have to accept if you're going to break the law. Having thought about what I typed last night I probably shouldn't have slipped into wind-up mode if I was also going to try and be honest and make a point

I fully believe this law needs to be in place, most drivers can't be trusted to change lanes at the right time so recognising the dangers of being on a mobile and fully concentrating will be beyond most. As an experienced driver who spends dozens of hours every week on the motorway I know I'm more than capable of holding a phone to my ear and keeping myself aware and safe. I have to be really careful not to rack up points on my license because losing it would be a life changer so I take the precautions that I said before - drop the speed a bit, get in the inside lane and most importantly have a mental picture of every car around you so you see the fuzz before they see you. The blackberry is easy to make a call on, you don't need to take you're eyes off the road for any longer than you would looking at a speedo or in the mirror.
If I'm in a place that requires lots of gear changes then it's easy to pull over anyway.

With all that in mind I refuse to believe that I'm somehow selfish or morally bankrupt, I just don't think it's as black and white as people think and as such they shouldn't get so worked up about it. I accept that attitude is arrogant in the extreme, but I'd rather be like that than comply with something I genuinely believe shouldn't apply to me.
The people who start beeping and waving their arms around because they've spotted the phone are definitely more dangerous at that point in time than I am! In any case I shall be joining the ranks of the non law breakers next month as the the new car has bluetooth.

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If you are likely to make calls whilst driving, why haven't you got yourself a hands free kit and then you don't have to risk being caught by the Police / other road users when using your phone and there would be no risk of getting points and risking your future employment?

They are fairly cheap to buy and fit nowadays so i can't see why people who feel they need to make calls when driving don't get one.

dadams2k11 said:

Would you agree that drivers are targets to make money Clive regardless of the rights or wrongs of using a phone behind the wheel?

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So you don't think that it's more to prevent something like this then?

(Warning - graphic contents)
http://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/vi...t=avg&type=ff.31.w8.dsp.17-03.gb.avg._._&tt=b

Billy the Fish said:

Clive, I totally accept what you're saying but the conditions to cause fluctuating reactions happen every day, it's human nature. The only accident I've ever caused was in a Tesco car park - I was working long hours and I'd just split with my partner so had a lot on my mind. I looked the wrong way at a junction because I wasn't concentrating and hit a car, it can happen at any point if you let your guard down behind the wheel, most likely I let mine down because of the low speed. Who's to say I'm concentrating less on the phone than a really fat person who is thinking about dinner or a nurse driving home after a long shift. Being a good driver is about recognising the dangers and driving accordingly, you could cut my reaction time by 10% and I still wouldn't plough into the back of anyone because my speed and distance from the car in front is appropriate.

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Billy the Fish said:

To be fair I can understand why people would think I'm an ar5ehole for saying this. I do however believe what I'm saying, perhaps I'm wrong on some levels, on others I know I'm right. That's life, you don't have to play by the rules all the time, I'm happy to make my decisions and fall o my sword if I need to.

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dadams2k11 said:

Would you agree that drivers are targets to make money Clive regardless of the rights or wrongs of using a phone behind the wheel?

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Do you think it's about making money or do you think that the likes of the Police Officers, Ambulance staff and Fire Brigade maybe just don't want to have to go to yet another crash and pick up the pieces, especially if that accident could easily have been prevented by someone being sensible and not using a mobile phone until they had pulled over safely?

There was a Traffic Cop style documentary where one of the incidents covered was where a lorry failed to stop and ploughed into traffic ahead of him which had come to a stop and the lorry driver just failed to notice.

After the crash the lorry driver looked out of his cab and saw what he thought was the car he had hit but in this case he had actually hit a different vehicle and that had been so badly crushed and compacted by the impact that it wasn't visible to the lorry driver. Unsurprisingly the driver of the car was killed.

The cause was the lorry driver using a mobile phone and not paying attention to the road ahead. I bet he felt he was a safe, experienced driver, and that he could use the phone, even if only for a short time and still drive safely but all it takes is one moment and then disaster.

The trouble is, i always get the impression from those who dismiss it was a money making scheme or by saying that they are a good driver and so on is that they think its like a film or tv, have a crash at high speed, get out unscathed and all walk away but it is rarely the case for all involved in an accident. If they saw time after time the carnage of an accident caused by speed, phone use or whatever, then they'd think again.

Those who suggest it's no more than a money-making exercise...the people giving out tickets & court appearances are the front line coppers. So how does that work? I honestly could not give a shit about where somebody's fine (or course payment) goes. It's not as though I'd see anything out of it. I don't have targets or incentives to dish out tickets, it's just "deal with it as you see fit".

It's not a tax. There is a way to avoid paying fines for using your phone while driving.