Every day I see several people using a hand-held mobile whilst driving. My 15 mile route to work involves country roads, a fast dual carriageway and a short stretch of semi-rural with speed cameras, and in every section I see people blatantly using phones. Also see this on motorways.
In fact, I find myself scrutinising on-coming vehicles and anyone who overtakes me to see if they're using a phone, and that is obviously (and ironically) distracting me whilst driving! Does anyone else feel this/ I've tried to not do it but I can't help it most of the time.
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I switch my phone off now as much as I dare but to be honest sometimes I really couldn't get done what I need to do without using it in the car. I wish that was not the case but it is. Until my competitors stop using theirs I would be at a severe disadvantage without it. Funnily enough I would support a total ban on drivers using phones. It would level the playing field and to be frank cause some of my callers to call the desk jockey they should have in the first place.
Before the law changed I admit I used to use mine in the time honoured tucked under chin mode. I had of course tried all the hands free options available at the time but none of them seemed very satisfactory. The only thing which kept a clear sound was the old plug in on a wire earpiece which used to get tangled in everything. Fancy hands free kits rarely seemed to work. You just spent a lot of time shouting and asking people to repeat themselves.
Then came bluetooth earpieces. Again, fairly useless mostly and kept losing the signal. However, after posing the question on this very site I was given the tip of checking out the "jawbone" earpiece. It has the feature of cancelling background noise. Not cheap, I think it might have been about £70 or so but of course they might be cheaper now. It is just brilliant to be truthful. Like being on a landline. Comfortable to wear but also easy to put on if required.
If I were in charge of the world I'd probably disinvent mobile phones but as that doesn't seem imminent this will have to do for now.
To return screaming to the OP. Yes, I see loads of people holding their phones to their ears while driving and more worryingly texting.
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>> the "jawbone" earpiece. >>
Which model Humph?
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Sorry to say I don't have the packaging any more. It's black and looks a bit like a mini cheesegrater if that helps !
;-)
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One thing I have noticed if a driver does something stupid like cut me up or is tailgating me when I am going slow because there is a trillion hazzards in front of me like that school which has just closed the driver of that car is often on their mobile.
I think it is now time to say that if you get caught driving with a mobile then you're banned just like with drink driving. This would have to be done with plenty of evidence and that person must be physicaly moving.
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I personally find the worse offenders the ones who drive higher quality cars. ie Range Rover,BMW,Mercedes etc.
They seem to think that their above the law and that their business is more important than safety.
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driving round town the otherday, saw someone on phone. then i counted the cars till i saw another one doing it . i never got past a count of 69 over an hour.
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Pat L
i agree with you i do the same especially if ive nearly been hit by such a driver
i find the self important pickup drivers the worst offenders in my area
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I find the perps around here are quite varied, though van drivers seem to be the worst culprits, possibly followed by women drivers. There seems to be a positive correlation between phone users and those not wearing seat belts.
I know it can be difficult for police to catch these poeple who put our lives at risk, but there must be some way of targetting them that will get the message across.
And when I see drivers with one hand on the wheel and staring intently towards their lap I assume they're texting:)). Whatever they're doing it's dangerous driving imo.
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Thankfully up here in yorkshire the police do do purges
The latest one included getting drivers to pass a number plate at 20 paces recognition test.
Unfortunately our police are always tied up in paperwork these days rather than nipping this growing problem
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Bellboy - that number plate test reminds me of a local news report here a few years ago where police randomly pulled drivers in off a dual carriageway to test their eyesight by asking them to read the number plate of a lorry parked 25 metres away. The failure rate was alarmingly high, and I remember one driver saying "What lorry?". Frightening.
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Unfortunately our police are always tied up in paperwork these days rather than nipping this growing problem
'Phoning is dangerous. Texting 1000 x so. Young girls and van/lorry drivers worst IMO
MD
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One of the things that I find worrying is a driver, usually a young woman, holding the steering wheel with one hand, with a cigarette between two fingers, and holding the mobile to their ear. I once saw one on the school run, big 4x4, turning onto the main road, three active children in the back.
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'Phoning is dangerous. Texting 1000 x so. Young girls and van/lorry drivers worst IMO
Agree 100%
FTF
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Whilst I agree with the sentiments expressed here I would also like to put the other side of the argument.
Recently I was despatched to a customers site about two hours away because the engineer on site was having trouble diagnosing a fault with a machine. In less than 15 minutes I got a call to say the guy on site had had a breakthrough and the machine was well on its way to being fixed and I could turn back. So a 30 second call saved 3 and a half hours of driving, wear/tear and fuel, and I was able to go back to the office and continue other productive work and finish work on time.
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In these days of speed cameras and Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems, (we even have infra-red screening systems taking the temperature of all arrivals at airports to diagnose those with swine-flu), surely it should be possible to devise a camera-based system that can somehow recognise the use of a mobile phone. It would certainly generate great revenue until people learned not to use phones while driving. :)
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Another problem is drivers stopping where they should not in order to use the phone.
Saw one guy stopped on a straight bit of country road in North Yorkshire where drivers routinely do 60/70mph. Madness.
Also seen several stopped using phones in towns, which still causes an obstruction.
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sq
Cut up x 2 on Thursday, both seriously carp drivers. The details would probably bore you to death, but I found out that neither of the cars in q. were on the MID. Reported this in person to plod, (when the ruddy station decided to open) and the young Constable was completely disinterested. I am going back today and if he hasn't acted on the information I am going to take it above his head.
It seems that reporting a crime or an incident results in one receiving more questions about oneself than acting on the genuine information received.
MD
Edited by Pugugly on 18/05/2009 at 12:15
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I feel sorry for the people who think it mandatory to immediately answer a ringing phone, dont they have voice mail? Must have sad lives, and I include buisness users.
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I have never, ever used or attemted to use a hand-held or hands-free mobile while driving.
Nobody needs to use a hand-held mobile while driving.
I think that you do see fewer people using hand-held mobiles while driving than you did before it was banned, but the numbers seem to be creeping up.
OK, some people light cigarettes or swig from a water bottle while driving - which is just as dangerous as using a hand-held mobile.....while you're performing the activity, that is.
But lighting a fag or taking a swig put you at risk for a few seconds at a time, while some people spend ages on the phone. I have been followed 12 miles by a driver who was on a hand-held mobile all the time - and that's since the ban came in.
I'm a phonephobic - I try and avoid speaking on the phone whenever I can, even in my house!
Edited by Sofa Spud on 18/05/2009 at 11:12
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I have never ever used or attemted to use a hand-held or hands-free mobile while driving. I'm a phonephobic - I try and avoid speaking on the phone whenever I can even in my house!
I'm the same, and I find it saves money to get people to phone you. Running a snall business I have to reply, but it can always wait till I stop.
There was not a lit of fuss when lorry drivers had CB radios. Was this because there were less of them?
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Indeed I am a mobile phone fanatic. I spend more on my mobiles than my car insurance but then I do run a business. My big adiction now is free internet on my mobile which is actually very handy for my job too.
However I sometimes will avoid answering my business phone. If I am eating my dinner or even watching corrie I will just let them leave a message. If answered it all the time I would never get any peace.
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Up until a few months ago I always turned my mobile off when driving, just so that I would not be tempted to answer when it rang.
I had fitted a Parrot MKi9200 which works fantastically well, yet I still turn off my phone on journeys of less than 45 minutes.I cannot understand my logic in this....hand held mobile phone use is (in my opinion) increasing in my part of the world....lorry drivers, young drivers, mums with a car full of screamers...they are all busy nattering away.......how can someone spend thousands on a car and not fit a hands free if they must make and receive calls?
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'Whilst I agree with the sentiments expressed here I would also like to put the other side of the argument.'
There is no other side,using a phone whilst driving is dangerous and anti-social.
No problem if you stopped to take that 30 second call,if that is not possible call back when you can stop,there is no justification or excuse.
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Will just add I always use hands free and never make outgoing calls while driving. I also have the phone where I can't see it so am not tempted to try and peer at tiny screen to see who is calling and so take my eyes of the road.
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I have a normal Supermini with full Bluetooth hands free connectivity as standard. Far easier than holding a mobile. What's the problem? I suspect many people feel that being seen using a mobile conveys some sort of importance.
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i have a mobile for business calls at work
its pay as you go and i have 8 pence credit
if its important they will phone back
if im not at work i cant take deposits down the phone so they will have to call later
signed like hj ...........an old geezer
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I had an Atrtic drive straight across a roundabout with PC following! trouble was the guy in the truck was so busy on the phone he never saw the PC or me! missed me by inches but fortunatley PC plod saw it all & as the truck turned PC plod could see the truck driver on the phone & that was that, blues & twos from PC plod a thumbs up from me & the driver behind me & Justice was done! hopefully a fine & points
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Hands-free or hand-held; to me it doesn't make much difference.
It's the content and purpose of the call that is the biggest distraction.
Even kitted up with bluetooth, are you likely to prioritise concentration on the road ahead (could be darkness or blinding rain) above a call that you know is coming in from the boss or a major client? Nah....
If anyone feels that their job (or for that matter their life in general) is too important to go without 24/7 connectivity, either get someone else to drive or stop occasionally and only deal with the calls that really matter then.
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