I've said it all before but . . .
* Since when has driving required less than 100% attention and both hands on the controls?
* Would you pass a driving test if you used a mobile phone during the course of it?
* If you are attending to a phone conversation -- hand-held mobile or hands free -- at least half your brain is down the line and not on the road.
Just ban the use of the wretched things in vehicles. For 99% of the time the call is just not that important. And don't all the systems have message-storing facilities?
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Why not ban the wretched things completely?
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Now, now lets not get too judgemental. I like a smoke, especially a nice cuban cigar but I've never smoked in the car since I knocked the end off once and panic ensued. At home my wife insisted on an expensive velux window in the roof area for my disgusting activity. Least the stars don't complain!
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Good luck RF. I'm sure you have the willpower!
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Adam
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HGV testing stations use the driver as an assistant, operating controls, lights etc. There is a large notice just outside the entry lane stating that the use use of mobile phones is forbidden and that any driver using one can't be paying full attention to his duties, and the use of one will cause the test to be terminated.
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Now, now lets not get too judgemental. I like a smoke, especially a nice cuban cigar
Prefer a Santa Damiana myself. Or did. Ooooh they were nice ::sob::
Still, slowly getting my weight down and fitness back up without them :o)
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A1 going into Edinburgh. 7.35 am this morning. Slow traffic as approach first roundabout and then stop start to next roundabout. Woman behind me in Megane with personal plates
1. Flick sunvisor down
2. Used a wipe all over her face.
3. Face cream applied and rubbed it.
4. Lipstick applied
5. Hair brushed.
By the time she was onto hair she had actually turned her rear view mirror towards her to get a better look.
I tried getting her attention by flashing my hazards, brake lights to no avail. I eventually just sat stationary till I got her attention. She then panicked thinking I was a road rage driver and immediately let the first car in from a side road so that he was between us!
Unbelievable!
Then on way home , had to swerve to avoid a wheelie bin on outside lane of motorway. Phoned 999, was asked which service I wanted, asked for police and then was on hold for 2.5 mins whilst it rang out until I got connected!
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I think you do at least see many fewer people using their mobiles while driving than before the ban. It's funny, though, how White Van Man seems to have developed ear-ache or something, as he often seems to be clutching the side of his head while driving.
I did once report the driver of an LGV to his company (a large national one)as he was using a mobile while trying to negotiate a roundabout, well after the ban came into force. A spokesperson said they absolutely forbad use of mobiles while driving and had done since long before the ban. Within a week or two I saw another driver from the same company using his mobile while driving along a busy main road.
Incidentally, I have only once used a mobile when behind the wheel, several years before it became illegal. That was in a stationary traffic queue to inform my workplace I'd been delayed.
Cheers, Sofa Spud.
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I've recently seen a man using an electric shaver while driving!
Cheers, SS
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I've recently seen a man using an electric shaver while driving!
He must have had a very long extension lead then.
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Except at times when I've had a beard, I've always shaved with an ordinary disposable razor (not while driving!), so I don't know much about electric shavers. But I thought you could get ones with batteries. Maybe this one had a little model aircraft engine or something.
Cheers, SS
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"I think you do at least see many fewer people using their mobiles"
What exactly do you mean by many fewer people?
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I popped out to the bank today and spotted a police car with the driver , one hand on the wheel and the other holding his 'talking brooch'presumably chatting to HQ.
Does this constitute a breach of the law - perhaps the BiB on the forum can advise?
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There's probably an exemption...
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It's seems to be generally agreed that smoking is probably far more dangerous than phoning and eating.
Logic suggests that it would be far more productive if you all utilised your energy persuading your MP to do something about it.
Well, maybe not, when you see how they removed guns from mostly harmless people while the really dangerous guys stocked up.
Maybe "Two Jags" smokes?
Either way, the old laws on driving dangerously or without due care could have handled the situation. Now they are once again making life difficult and more expensive for everybody due to the stupidity of a few. How long before we can't pass wind (come in Dave) in our cars?
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>>It's seems to be generally agreed that smoking is probably far more dangerous than phoning and eating.
Not by me its not. As it happens I gave up smoking, but it was never as daangerous or as distracting as a telephone. Anybody that says it is more dangerous is someone who uses their phone while driving and is trying to justify it.
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On my journey to work, before the ban, I'd see vehicle after vehicle with its driver talking on a mobile. Nowadays I don't think that's the case round here, but it's still not a rare enough sight.
Today, someone started to pull out in front of me on a mini roundabout and then slammed on their brakes at the last minute. Guess what? -- the driver was taking on a mobile!
Cheers, SS
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>> I've recently seen a man using an electric shaver while driving! He must have had a very long extension lead then.
And when did you get mains electricity in your Cave?
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We've just heard that Blackpool's main police station -- a haven of peace Blackpool, at weekends -- is to close entirely from 2:00 am to 8:00 am every night..
The station isn't just the central nick, it's divisional HQ, but I suppose they have to economise on the overtime rates. If your phone user is around Blackpool during those hours, don't bother -- there's nobody there.
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I once saw a man driving a car while shaving!
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Isn't a talkative passenger a distraction?
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I have often been behind a car and observed the driver constantly turning to look at the passenger whilst talking-perhaps they are so boring they have to make sure the passenger has not quietly slipped out of the door...A few weeks ago I was following a large tipper truck and could see clearly into the cab,I was puzzled as to why the driver had his right index finger in his ear,then I realised that he was using a hands free kit and blocking out the engine noise-obeying the letter,if not the spirit,of the law!
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Sierraman - in my experience the car to avoid is the one containing all females.
It seems to be impossible for a female driver to talk to any of her passengers without turning to look at them, even if they are in the rear of the car..... I really mean this.
- Dons crash helmet and ducks rapidly for nearest cover....
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While wearing my 'crash helmet' this morning a woman comes around the roundabout in front with a mobile in one hand and a ciggie in the other. She was steering with difficulty.
I then overtook her briskly. Probably hates motorcyclists now.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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I personally would be very wary about reporting any wrongdoing to the police, or in fact of voluntarily opening up a conversation of any kind with them. On the one and only occasion that I have done so the officer assigned to the case tried to prove that I was lying, presumably with a view to getting his revenge on me for upsetting into his peaceful existence.
Looking out of the window at work I saw two young lads (on the other side of the river from where I worked) sniffing petrol from the tank of a small moped. I rang the local nick and was told that an officer would investigate the matter. After some time, when it had become apparent that nothing was being done a town councillor who also worked in the office also rang the police saying that I had reported the incident but that no officer had attended the scene. Shortly after that I got a call from the assigned officer. He claimed that he had in fact attended the incident but said that it had occurred a quarter mile further along the road and that therefore I could not possibly have witnessed it. He asked me to look out of the window and to say whether I could see the location he claimed to have visited. I agreed that I couldn?t. He then invited me to the police station to make a statement. Envisaging being herded into a cell and being given (at the very least) a good kicking I declined the invitation.
Once bitten twice shy!
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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I would say for a few weeks after the law came in , things got better, but now it's back to where it was .I live in a rural area and we frequently see people driving on narrow, twisty roads, while using the phone. This also includes lorry drivers and coach drivers .
I don't know how it can be done but something has to stop it. The argument that there are other activities which can distract you, which are not illegal , is nonsense .In any event they would be covered by the general "driving without due care" which covered using phones before it was split off into a specific offence on its own.
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Once bitten twice shy!
So now based on this one instance, you're forever going to use that as the yardstick for when it comes to dealing with the Police?
So there was disagreement over where the offence might have occured...so what? Happens all the time in that people get locations wrong/confused. What most probably irked the Police was not you reporting the incident, but the COuncillor calling up and trying to use his influence to elicit a Police response? So what if he is a local councillor - he is equal to you or I when it comes to the reporting of crime - why? Because it's all about prioritisng the type of crime being reported. I personally would have lodged a complaint agains tthe Councillor for seeking to use his position to favour - since being a Councillor or an MP does not mean you have priority.
Personally speaking though, it's regretful that you were not dealt with properly - or at the very least felt you have received a good service because next time you could see something important and not bother to report it. It comes back to my posting before, that you get good and bad everywhere. And we have bad days too.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special constable.
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>> Im not plain stupid, just a special constable.
Wish I was - then I'd be making more money.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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So you work in admin., then?
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So you work in admin., then?
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Well you could say that, given the amount of paper that has to be shuffled from here to there and then back again.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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Here are the summaries of a couple of studies on driver distractions:
From Strayer and Drews, Human Factors 2004:
Profiles in driver distraction: effects of cell phone conversations on younger and older drivers.
Our research examined the effects of hands-free cell phone conversations on simulated driving. We found that driving performance of both younger and older adults was influenced by cell phone conversations. Compared with single-task (i.e., driving-only) conditions, when drivers used cell phones their reactions were 18% slower, their following distance was 12% greater, and they took 17% longer to recover the speed that was lost following braking. There was also a twofold increase in the number of rear-end collisions when drivers were conversing on a cell phone. These cell-phone-induced effects were equivalent for younger and older adults, suggesting that older adults do not suffer a significantly greater penalty for talking on a cell phone while driving than compared with their younger counterparts. Interestingly, the net effect of having younger drivers converse on a cell phone was to make their average reactions equivalent to those of older drivers who were not using a cell phone. Actual or potential applications of this research include providing guidance for recommendations and regulations concerning the use of mobile technology while driving.
So - using a mobile phone when you are young gives you the reaction time(s) of an older person!
Additionally:
Driving performance during concurrent cell-phone use: are drivers aware of their performance decrements?
Prior research has documented the manner in which a variety of driving performance measures are impacted by concurrent cell-phone use as well as the influence of age and gender of the driver. This current study examined the extent to which different driver groups are aware of their associated performance decrements. Subjects' confidence in dealing with distractors while driving and their ratings of task performance and demand were compared with their actual driving performance in the presence of a cell-phone task. While high confidence ratings appeared to be predictive of better driving performance for male drivers (as confidence increased, the size of the distraction effects decreased), this relationship did not hold for females; in fact, for older females, as confidence increased, performance decreased. Additionally, when drivers were matched in terms of confidence level, brake responses of older females were slowed to a much greater extent (0.38 s) than were brake responses of any other group (0.10s for younger males and females and 0.07 s for older males). Finally, females also rated the driving task as less demanding than males, even though their performance was more greatly affected by distraction. These results suggest that many drivers may not be aware of their decreased performance while using cell-phones and that it may be particularly important to target educational campaigns on driver distraction towards female drivers for whom there tended to be a greater discrepancy between driver perceptions and actual performance.
Beware of the over-confident older female driver using a mobile!
And from research by Lansdown TC, Brook-Carter N, Kersloot T,
at Heriot-Watt:
This study investigates the impact of multiple in-vehicle information systems on the driver. It was undertaken using a high fidelity driving simulator. The participants experienced, paced and unpaced single tasks, multiple secondary tasks and an equal period of 'normal' driving. Results indicate that the interaction with secondary tasks led to significant compensatory speed reductions. Multiple secondary tasks were shown to have a detrimental affect on vehicle performance with significantly reduced headways and increased brake pressure being found. The drivers reported interaction with the multiple in-vehicle systems to significantly impose more subjective mental workload than either a single secondary task or 'normal driving'.
So iDrive isn't a safety feature....?
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The use of hand-held mobile phones whilst driving has got a lot worse since the law came in IMHO.
The number of drivers in company cars I see using handheld phones is unbelievable.
If your employer wants you to use a phone, make him install a proper hands free kit, otherwise switch it off whilst you are driving.
Lorry drivers who use hand-held phones should have their licences revoked for life. That would sort the problem out very quickly indeed. They are driving a 38 tonne killing machine when they're on the phone.
Our company doesn't do company cars, they do car allowance instead, however they pay to have hands free kits installed in employees' own cars.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE. DRIVING WHILST ON THE PHONE?
YOU ARE WORSE THAN A DRUNK DRIVER!
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I can't see why talking on a cellphone while driving is such a big deal.
You don't get fined for having an altercation with the Bitter Half while at the wheel, or trying to discipline those screaming rug-rats in the back, and surely that could be a lot worse in terms of your temperament and suitability to drive than dialling and telling your stockbroker to unload your USD and buy Euros forward.
As for Stalin-esque sneaky dobbing in of other drivers doing it, get a life and find something purposeful to do with your day.
That stuff belongs with the Stasi.
NOW what I do support, as a resident of the country which holds the world record for the greatest volume of text messages, is answering your wife's texts as to where to you are now interjected with your mistress's ones nagging about why are you late. Now that IS dangerous.
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It's all a question of degree really. Although I dislike seeing other people using their moby whilst driving; are they any more dangerous than the myopic old git who lives down my street. He must be in his late 80's, drives an old Hillman Avenger at 20 mph, has skimmed a few cars along the road and knocked his gateposts down goodness knows how many times. God help us if he gets a mobile fone! Is it any more dangerous than a young blood with his boombox pounding out a base rythm at 150db making his car bodywork shake and rattle. Makes him drive more aggresively? Is it more dangerous than when my missus loses her brains at that time of the month and is incapable of conducting two tasks simultaneously? Seriously, if she talks to me as she drives, she gets slower and slower and almost stops the car and wonders why people behind her are hooting. In summary, yes it can be dangerous, but there are worse things.
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Thanks Tack for making me laugh before bed time
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Most people do some distracting things while driving - putting a sweet in their mouth, lighting a fag, tuning the radio. But generally these activities only take a few seconds.
When just a handful of people were using mobiles or CB handsets, there was probably no detectable problem. But when the number of people using mobiles for long periods while driving increased greatly, it probably became clear from accident statistics that there was a problem.
Cheers, SS
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I can't see why talking on a cellphone while driving is such a big deal.
I'm not sure you'd still say that if you saw how much my friend swerves around the road while talking on her mobile :(
But i'm sure you right that there'd be a big safety improvement if male drivers didn't argue with their wives while the children are in the car ... ;-)
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As a biker, I'm a little bit higher, and used to watching for drivers who don't seem to be concentrating. When I catch up with them, eight out of ten [of the erratic drivers] are on the phone.
There are other drivers on the phone who aren't erratic, but there are a significant number who can't phone and drive. I support a complete ban on hands-held and hands-free.
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That would never happen because people just would disobey the law more than they do now and probably use the handset.
There is no way you'll stop people from using their phone. Especially not in their car.
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Adam
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I think mobile phones are a bit like 4x4's. A lot of people hate them. Heaven forbid using a mobile whilst driving a 4x4. A lot of people tut when they see a driver use a fone as they drive. 10 minutes later they are on their own fone as they drive (I know....not everyone!) As I mentioned in a previous posting, a guy a few doors along from me (so obnoxious that they haven't even invented a word that can really describe him....well, I can think of one but would get the snip snip!) drives his Mini Cooper S whilst drinking a can of coke, talking on his mobile AND lighting a fag at the same time! Now that takes the biscuit!
Let's face it....walk through the city...at any one time, you will see 3 out of 5 people either talking on their fone, texting or dialling a number. It can only get worse with 3G and people watching movies or downloads. Be realistic, people love their fones, upgrade every year, change the facias, have stupid ringtones and will not be prevented from using them, will not be prevented from speeding, overtaking on double lines, parking on double yellows, blocking the junction, driving without belts on. Better get used to it and just drive on in your own sweet well disciplined manner
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I had to have a laugh recently in Poynton. The traffic there is generally difficult because of a narrow high street, with cars trying to get into the COOP mini supermarket. I stopped to let a car across my front and into the supermarket car park. The car turned in, driven with great aplomb by a bright young thing wearing jodphurs and riding boots (stained with stable debris), talking animatedly into her mobile, left hand to right ear. Difficult turn in, parked in a 'disabled' bay, trotted into the shop without a backward glance, still talking.
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