Is it not about time using mobiles whilst driving means you loose the phone the first time and the car?

Question

the second time. Or am I ignorant of the major road safety improvements yaking on a mobile brings to drivers? Clearly lorry drivers find that a mobile is particularly usefull along side their wad of delivery notes perched on the steering wheel as they negotiate traffic islands.

Answer 1

followed by an auction for nearly new company cars, and sales reps having to use bicycles...good idea

Answer 2

Before hands free was available I frequently had to answer a call on the moby whilst driving. However being a bloke I rarely spend much more than about 10 seconds on the phone anyway. Further I believe it is not so much the fact that they are on the phone that is the problem, but rather that they do not have the experience or temperament to be a driver let alone a good one.
Personally my consciousness is focussed on the driving at all times when I am behind the wheel and in those days when I used a mobile in the vehicle regularly the only time I ever found it a possible distraction/impediment to my driving I dropped it on the floor mid-sentence and retrieved it when it was safe to do so. Now that is exceptional I know and I have never used one while driving since.
CONFISCATE the phone on the spot and minimum fine of £1000 for the first offence, an additional £500 for every part of a minute the call has lasted over 30seconds. That will stop these people I have followed for up to 1/2 and hour on their mobiles.

Answer 3

Well, people always think that the law should reflect their own abilities (or lack of them), but the reality of the situation is rather different.

For a start, the police and other emergency services use radio on the move all the time, so there's no chance of making hands-free telephone calls illegal. Also, pilots are in constant contact with ground-control when they land an aircraft.

I drive a very large articulated truck, and if someone calls me on the phone, I am not distracted from driving in the least; even in the heaviest traffic or during extreme manouveres.

Other drivers just lose all concentration and fall apart mentally.

I know a very famous organist, who can hold a perfect conversation whilst playing the most complicated music, but for my part as a musician, I cannot speak at all when I am playing.
That's why he is a better and more natural musician than myself.

In my younger days, I sat alongside a famous rally-driver, who told jokes and conversed as he threw the car sideways on a forest track.....awesome!

So when I see those lines which go, "A study has shown that....."
I take it all with a pinch of salt, because the study is obviously flawed. If it involves women researchers, God help us!

So instead of yarking on about the dangerous things OTHER people do, perhaps it might be better to admit that they are probably a lot more capable in the first instance, and those who point fingers are probably incompetent to drive, let alone judge.

Answer 4

Even using a mobile hands-free has been proved to impair driving ability. I wonder about people having arguments or listening to certain radio programs too - I can certainly lose concentration if I listen to a play or a discussion on the radio, particularly.

Yes, I think it would be a very good idea if a first offence meant loss of the phone (but, of course, most would just go out and buy another). Certainly points on the driving licence would be good! Most people who really need a phone for their business - delivery drivers, for example - already have hands-free and use it responsibly. It's the idiot white van drivers and (without wishing to be sexist) females taking the kids to school who I notice most often. People who generally don't take driving as seriously as they should - so using a phone while driving is only one example of their poor driving. If they lost a point on their licence every time they were caught, they would soon sit up because it's that kind of person that takes the use of a vehicle for granted!

Answer 5

Dont bother me personally, I only used my mobile 3 times this year and never while driving.however
I reckon any plod booking someone for using a mobile phone should be reported for wasting police time.
Seriously though, where is the problem, is a mobile more distracting than the radio, late at night someone to talk to on the mobile is a life saver, keeps you awake when droning along M6 at 70 when 120 would be more sensible to fight off boredom,
but apart from some minor problems steering I think drivers esp women who need to look at whom they are speaking to, are safer on the mobile than talking to their mates in the back while driving.
Composing a text message is bloody dangerous mind but there are laws about not being in control of the vehicle anyway so Come on David Scrap this law when you beat Brown/Reid/Prescott at the next election.

Answer 6

The government simply needs to make the offence of using a mobile handset while driving endorsable, ie three points on your licence. Most offenders are prepared to put up with the very slight risk of being stopped & issued a fixed penalty of £40 for the convenience of using their handset.

Answer 7

Perhaps a simple fine would do the trick...but on the other hand I wonder how many accidents are caused by women putting on their makeup while they are driving,I know it happens .. Or people eating while driving. Like the Geico commercial says..."we all do stupid things".... Now ladies don't get offended with the makeup remark....Somehow seeing a women driving, looking in the rear view mirror and putting on makeup looks a tad unsafe... JMHO..:)

Answer 8

A little drastic isn't it, to take some ones only means of transportation? How will they get to work? Get groceries for the kids?
But I agree, the phone should go. Along with the reading of things while driving.

Answer 9

No!!! - Immediate driving ban for life and confiscate the vehicle. That would teach these ignorant dangerous drivers - if they knew that if caught they could not only lose their licence for life but have the vehicle confiscated too

Answer 10

Yeah, I agree.