Cars and mobile phones?

Question

Whilst getting into my car earlier today I saw a young man trying to park his car in a one third full car park while on the phone.
Trying to reverse, he just missed a young child of six to eight years of age, the gentlemen accompanying the child walked calmly up to the driver of the vehicle, knocked on his window, then opened the car door. Taking the phone from the driver he dropped it to the ground and stamped on it to a round of applause by everyone watching,
Unfortunately, to the disbelief of the driver no'one saw anything.
No'one was hurt.
Who should or would get the great fine?.

Answer 1

what about you-weren't you a witness. i think cell-phones should not be allowed while driving or parking. there is blue tooth or wait to get or make a call. pedestrian always have the right a way unless jay walking which was not in this case. therefore cell phone driver GUILTY.

Answer 2

Who is guilty - the driver for being in charge of a motor vehicle whilst on a mobile phone that was not hands free (although in a car park the law probably doesn't apply) and the gentleman who took the drivers phone and stamped on it for criminal damage.
Both obviously rely on witness statments and other evidence CCTV etc.
As to the greater fine - probably the gentleman for destroying the phone. the child would have to have been hit, injured or worse. Near miss doesn't count.
The lesson was however a strong one for the driver and hopefully he will not drive and use a phone.

Answer 3

The driver shouldn't have been on the phone in the 1st place. I'm guilty of using my phone while driving but not while manouvering - it is extremely difficult to pay attention to things going on around him, talking and moving the car. However, the parent should have been watching the child and not let him/her walk into the path of the car. Both parties have been irresponsible.

Answer 4

Wow!! That's a tough situation, in which both parties are at fault in my opinion. The young man should not have been on his mobile phone, however the gentleman who approached him should not have broken the phone.

There really is nothing that could be done, if the young man notified the authorities and lives in a state in which he could be ticketed for operating a vehicle while using a cellphone, he would likely be ticketed. I received a ticket myself while driving through a toll plaza lot on the phone, so it could happen. The young man could pay upwards of $150.00.

Since noone was hurt, in my honest opinion both parties should just move on. Perhaps the young man will consider this a lesson learned.

Answer 5

Don't the rules of the highways not apply in private car parks?
My husband hit a car in a car park once and the police told him he didn't have to report it as it was in a car park not on the road, just wondered if same applies to mobile phones?

Answer 6

Does your state have a law against using a cell phone behind the wheel? If so, the driver is the one who is in legal trouble. Sure the other guy ruined someone else's property, but if wasn't breaking the law he'd still have his phone.

Answer 7

That sounds good to me. he other day I saw a driver in an large .articulated lorry talking on a mobile and turning a corner into a narrow busy street.

Answer 8

I presume that the car was a Chelsea Tractor. Most drivers of those seem to have had their brain removed anyway.

Answer 9

I to applaud what the man did, however he did damage to someone's property. That's a tuff one. It is funny though how people can not talk and drive. I see people with one hand on the wheel singing to their radio and driving just fine. Some people just shouldn't be on the road, cellphone or not.

Answer 10

Both were irrisponsible acts. The driver should not be talking while driving (but if it was a private car park he is not breaking any laws). Meanwhile the parent definately should not be acting like a thug in front of his child.