2 yrs ago today it became a criminal offence to.............

[Captain Nemo]

use a mobile phone whilst driving.

am i the only one that thinks the law made little difference, i think at first people were a little more careful, but now its back to me, me, me..........

[jonboy]

The number of people that do this is legion. Q: which is likely to be more dangerous, being 10mph over the limit or using your mobile whilst driving?

Why is one rigorously enforced and the other almost completely ignored by the boys in blue?


.

[Captain Nemo]

The number of people that do this is legion. Q: which is likely to be more dangerous, being 10mph over the limit or using your mobile whilst driving?

Why is one rigorously enforced and the other almost completely ignored by the boys in blue?


.

speed cameras.

perhaps the cameras could be rigged to detect a moving mobile phone signal then when it passes the camera kerflash, i think id be more in favour off cameras if they could do this........oh and i know it cant really happen its just a what if?

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

Yeah, once they find a way to get photo evidence of someone using their mobile while driving then they'll be busting people all over the place for using mobiles. Until then it's their word against the culprit, and anyone scabby enough to be using a mobile on the road is probably scabby enough to lie in court.

In theory it's already possible to do this to a certain extent with the film-less forward facing (truvelo) cameras - take a pic of every car and run it through optical recognition software to ID anyone using a phone.

It's purely down to them not having an easy/certain enough way to catch the people doing it.

[Brucey]

All the data is recorded so if the guy was accussed of being on his phone at the time its very easy to prove.

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

Give it a few more years, when they have a more sophisticated camera system with automatic recognition of the plate, vehicle details, driver... coupled with better access to records of the mobile phone companies. If there's money to be made out of it, you know they'll find a way to make it work.

Unlike speeding there'll be few people willing to defend using a mobile while driving. And there's probably just as much money to be made from this as there has been from speeding.

[rob13]

If i was a traffic cop, id be going after the mobile users every time. Ive seen people blatently committing this offence which really annoys me. IMO its a lot more dangerous than going over the speed limit by 10mph. At least at that speed you're still concentrating

[Ed]

...but every wagon driver in the land would be prosecuted :shock:

[BURNER]

When I'm in the cage and i spot a mobile phone user I get beside them, dual carriageway and crank the sound system with the 2 facing windows cranked down. Hopefully I'd loaded something noisy. The other day I treated mister BMW to the intro to Marily Manson's Beautiful People about 4 times as we inched along in traffic. Childish perhaps but it makes them hang up the phone quicker than anything else.

When I'm on the bike I avoid them like the plague :shock: I don't wanna die :roll:

[haggis]

It wouldn't be particularly difficult to introduce a signal blocker on all new cars.

Something that detects if there is only one occupant in the car ( abit like the seatbelt lights in some cars now), and if it's not stationary then block all outgoing signals. Not exactly expensive to make or fit.

[hall13uk]

It wouldn't be particularly difficult to introduce a signal blocker on all new cars.

Something that detects if there is only one occupant in the car ( abit like the seatbelt lights in some cars now), and if it's not stationary then block all outgoing signals. Not exactly expensive to make or fit.


:) yeah good idea it could turn it self off only when the engine stopped or when the wheels are not turning.

[philipMac]

Mobiles 'worse than drink-driving'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1885775.stm

The interesting thing about this study was that it said:
" hands-free kits were almost as dangerous as hand-held phones."
It is very easy to bully people in traffic on mobiles though :twisted:

I am suprised that more biker cops dont make it their business to reef offenders.

[Captain Nemo]

ive found the best technique is to pull alongside them, get them to wind down their window and say politely and calmy " get off the phone you wa****".

it has the desired effect generally, and if you growl like a lion afterwards, they know you mean business.....................

[northwind]

I gather that while it's sometimes used to get people who're just driving and using a phone, it's more commonl used to throw the book at people who've crashed while using a phone... Which is qwuite sensible, i suppose, since it'sreally not practical to stamp it out totally.

[Peter Henry]

northwind wrote:

it'sreally not practical to stamp it out totally.


I have to disagree this can easily be done with technology that can be applied to either the vehicle or the mobiles.They should be rendered unusable whilst any vehicle is in motion. We are not talking about cops on the look out for pèople.
Satellite systems can track them to 1 metre and a record of a moving mobile in use and a record of calls made or received can easilly be used to make convictions.

I hate mobile phone users(when driving) and the coccoon people appear to fee that they are in when using one in a car is actually quite frightening. 8)

[northwind]

Using a phone's not illegal if you use a hands-free, so that's a non-starter.

[Peter Henry]

Northwind...Then maybe hands free should be also outlawed as they also cause the drivers attention to wander. I do not think hands free makes any real contribution to safety.
All calls blocked whilst the mobile is in the car and moving.If you want to check the incoming calls you missed then find a suitable place to stop and then do it. 8) l

[northwind]

So you want to make a phone call while a passenger, or on a train, or on a bus?

[Peter Henry]

Persist as you might my friend but being able to decipher that it is the drivers phone can be achieved.He might have to place it in some kind of pod that will allow him to receive calls etc. Either way we can run around in circles all night but the problem can be got around and I know to well that you know that also. :wink: Maybe as part of the car security system,the driver or any other authorised drivers mobile numbers must be keyed in to the system. :wink:

[dclifford]

I remember there was a bike magazine a about a year ago and it had several pages about the problem. They had placed a camera man at a roundabout and photograph many people on the phone within the space of a couple of hours.
It should be easy to set up mobile units to catch this problem.
In Ireland it is not illegal.

[northwind]

Persist as you might my friend but being able to decipher that it is the drivers phone can be achieved.He might have to place it in some kind of pod that will allow him to receive calls etc. Either way we can run around in circles all night but the problem can be got around and I know to well that you know that also. :wink: Maybe as part of the car security system,the driver or any other authorised drivers mobile numbers must be keyed in to the system. :wink:

And trains and buses?

What you're talking about would be a big investment of money and technology. Yes, it could be done, but it's pretty unrealistic. The benefits almost certainly wouldn't justify the costs.

And of course, you'd get the usual 1984/nanny state comments being thrown around with this one... and is it really such a good use of police time? There are worse crimes. Like doing 73mph on a motorway :)

[Anonymous]

I had my first mobile phone in 1987 (ish). In 1990, I equipped all my field sales team with car-phones. In 1991 alone, they had at least three accidents whilst using them - one guy ran into a lamp post, another had a head-on on a bend whilst talking to me, a third had the temerity to drive into the back of me whilst we were leaving a motorway service station! By 1995 I had decided they were a total liability and a danger, and I personally didn't have another until three months ago.

95% of calls are a complete nonsense, and I would simply ban the use of all mobile phones in cars, hands-free or otherwise. I would also ban them on buses and trains - the standard conversation is loud, inane, indiscreet (I can't begin to tell you what I learnt about one of my competitors, on a train to London one day!) and deeply annoying to other users. There is almost nothing that can't wait for an hour or two.

Mobile phones are an addictive drug, and worse than smoking (IMO!!).

[northwind]

Actually, that's a fair point... Wouldn't be sorry to hear the last of "HELLO! I'M ON THE BUS! WHAT? WHAT? HAHAHAHAHAHA!" etc.

[Captain Nemo]

ive had a mobile since around 94 and i remember that not many people had them then, you had to have a contract hich generally meant if you were a financial liability you didnt have a phone, i think mobile phone etiquette went wrong when pay as you go was launches and everyone in the land suddenly could afford one, i think in a way the y were better when they were expensive at least you only used them when you really had to . everywhere you go people have phones glued to their heads, not just in cars now, its even in the bloody ques whilst people are being served and stuff.

how rude.

i think that as peter suggest the techno could be adapted to stop them being used in cars, but for the outlay in technology, the powers that be will find another way of keeping the masses down............


ermm its late and im rambling...off to bed

[Peter Henry]

I agree with El Bocca entirely! I too had my first mobile back in 1986, one of those dreadfull Vodafone "bricks" that almost required a trolley to lug it around! At first it was a handy novelty but I soon began to hate it!
It was a time when I was working damned hard and at a fast pace,often getting in to the office before we opened to the public and leaving way after it had closed. My time spent in the car was a small amount of time where I could switch off and try to unwind.But gradually calls started to come and I found the intrusion almost offensive as none of the calls were relating to matters that could not have waited until the next day.
Unfortunately I need a mobile at times with my present work when questions need to be asked when I am away from my desk and so they have their uses.
But the modern culture of mobiles drives me insane,you cant walk 50 metres without passing someone talking on one or sitting at a a cafe texting. And just like drinking and driving...the danger element when driving has been proven and so of course it angers me to see people slowing traffic as their focus is on their call, or driving along with no lights or making last second manouvres. Yes they should be definitely rendered inoperable when in a car(for the driver)

Sorry Northy you are creating argument(discussion) that is complete crap and I know full well that you know this. Hence no offence taken. 8)

[jonboy]

I'm surprised that Spiderman hasn't posted, as some stupid c*w ran over his foot the other day while he was on his bike and she was in her Mini on her mobile :shock: .


.

[northwind]

Sorry Northy you are creating argument(discussion) that is complete crap and I know full well that you know this. Hence no offence taken. 8)

I'm really not... This whole thread's turned into something totally different from what it's pretending to be... It's not about ssafety now, it's about people who don't like mobile phones. Now we're talking about how rude it is to use them in queues, in shops etc. Yes, I totally agree, it's rude, but it's not something that can be stopped with technology is it?

So we're talking about some hardware method to stop them being used while in motion. Who's going to pay for that? It'll not be cheap. In the real world, how much benefit will there be?

[drumwrecker]

When driving my car and listening to the radio I notice there are periods when I have been concentrating so much I just haven't heard what was being said or played. Now if I was on the phone at that time guess what my concentration would be lost on, certainly not the person yapping at me on the phone.
I can't prove this as I have never used a mobile phone as a driver in a car. That sounds holier than thou but the only time my phone is on is when I want to phone out usually by arrangement. When I'm out of the house I don't want to be interupted

[Flamin_Squirrel]

Sorry Northy you are creating argument(discussion) that is complete crap and I know full well that you know this. Hence no offence taken. 8)

I'm really not... This whole thread's turned into something totally different from what it's pretending to be... It's not about ssafety now, it's about people who don't like mobile phones. Now we're talking about how rude it is to use them in queues, in shops etc. Yes, I totally agree, it's rude, but it's not something that can be stopped with technology is it?

So we're talking about some hardware method to stop them being used while in motion. Who's going to pay for that? It'll not be cheap. In the real world, how much benefit will there be?

I agree with Northy completely. Even if it was feasible I'd still think it was a completely rubbish idea, safety is not the most important thing in life. Using the pretence of safety to justify your own selfish needs is pretty poor Peter!

[northwind]

I agree with Northy completely.

I think this thread should be preserved for future generations, this is the first time this's ever happened :) Perhaps we could attach a small blue plaque.

[Balky001]

Are you all mad. Using a phone in the car isn't illegal is it? If it was, people would get fined. No, I think someone dreamed it.

I think mobile use should constitute careless driving and points should be given.

Hands free - hmm, but the point is most accidents are caused just through the lack of dexterity from holding a unit, but from not concentrating on driving. I guess that's why smoking isn't (yet) band. I say if you use the phone when driving then your the type to leave fog lights on, sit in the middle lane, never indicate until you have actually turned, drive recklessly and kill innocent pedestrians, probably children - without arguement - therefore shooting on sight should be allowed. But maybe I'm just too liberal. :wink:

[Biker Biggles]

There's more to this than just the phone thing.Modern cars are full of toys and gadgets that divert attention from the job of driving.How can you possibly concentrate on the road while fiddling with the radio,adjusting vents or heating,programming the on board computer,panicking about the speed limit,where's that camera,or looking at the sat nav?
I think it is still illegal to have a TV visible to the driver,but you can watch an on screen map book as much as you like.If cars were designed to focus attention back on driving I think there would be a reduction in "due care and attention" type prangs,which are by far the most common.

[seedy100]

It seems relativly simple to use cameras to inforce the law

The "truvelo" type cameras already take photos that allow the driver to be recognised.

Mobiles emit signals that can be detected by simple radio systems.
A directional arieal, some simple doppler shift calculations and you could determine both whether a phone was in use and how fast it was traveling.

A picture of the driver with the phone to their ear and - Bingo - revenue!
(Or even double revenue if they were also speeding!)

Cant be as simple as that or it would already be in place.

I feel sure that the government wouldnt miss out.

Of coures there is always the "Bobby on the beat" who could calmly take the phone from them and SHOVE IT UP THEIR AR$£.

(Sorry one of these Wan***s nearly killed me when I was walking on the path)

[Kylie]

Modern cars are full of toys and gadgets that divert attention from the job of driving
Thats true, but before all that stuff came along how many drivers pulled off the road before looking at the map, or arguing with their partner, or shouting at their kids, or rummaging in the glove box for their smokes, cassette, shades or whatever? Not many.

Technlogy is neither the problem nor the solution here, its irrelevant. The problem is whether folks drive with due care and attention. Driving with one hand because the other is holding a phone is plain stupid, catch them folks for careless driving (oh, and catch all the smokers who can't handle a cigarette and wheel at same time too). Driving with a handsfree phone using preprogrammed numbers or for incoming calls isn't automatically evil, if people can talk and drive at the same time (methinks most can) then that should be allowed (which it is). Some folks can't handle that, get them for dangerous driving.

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

A picture of the driver with the phone to their ear and - Bingo - revenue!
(Or even double revenue if they were also speeding!)


Should be four times as much if they get caught doing both at the same time. Just for being a kn0b.

[Balky001]

A picture of the driver with the phone to their ear and - Bingo - revenue!
(Or even double revenue if they were also speeding!)


Should be four times as much if they get caught doing both at the same time. Just for being a kn0b.

Speeding? They are more unpredictable when they think by going 20mph they are safe, people don't know what they are doing and of course they wont indicate their intentions. Moving non-directional road blocks - ban them - ban them all :twisted:

[Spiderman]

I'm surprised that Spiderman hasn't posted, as some stupid c*w ran over his foot the other day while he was on his bike and she was in her Mini on her mobile :shock: .


.

Ive only just stumbeled across this thread but heres my £0.02 worth.

Yes she did run over my foot in her silly little mini. And it wasnt nice. I wont bore you all with the details but the boots took the damage not me thankfully.

Im totaly with Balky001 with his simple and efficient attitude towards this all. Eradication of this sub-species of arrogant thoughtless person would be just fine with me. Start with the very wost habbitual offenders and see how quickly the others realise they really can wait to chat **** to thier mates :lol:

I honestly find that if i spend too much time on the fone to the g/f during the day we have f all to chat about whe we get in from work. (all good in her opinion i'm sure ;) )

Watch for this one if you havnt encountered it.... van full of builders after a hard days work, and whos on the fone to the boss? The twit whose also the only one trusted enough to drive the bloody van! Why cant one of those other four have his oh-so-important-conversation-with-the-boss instead :roll:

http://x11.putfile.com/12/33915422275.gif (http://www.putfile.com)
i wanna get this put on the back of my bike jacket too :lol:

But they'd prolly be too engrosed in their conversation that they wouldnt notice it :roll:
Or if they did, they'd get too engrosed in trying to read it while chatting and changing gear and run into the back of me :x

I filtered thru 3 lanes of crawling morning commuters behind 2 police bikes not on a call.... and they ignored every single driver who had a phone. and i mean completely ignored it. not a tap on the window of the one they cant filetr past, not even a hard stare at them to make them realise.
Nothing :(

What do we pay them for again? :roll: :roll:

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

Watch for this one if you havnt encountered it.... van full of builders after a hard days work, and whos on the fone to the boss? The twit whose also the only one trusted enough to drive the bloody van! Why cant one of those other four have his oh-so-important-conversation-with-the-boss instead :roll:

They can't all speak. Most can only manage grunting noises to communicate their needs and wishes. The one that has learned to speak gets the phone (and the job of driver, seeing as it requires advanced motor skills and some reading ability). Quite often they get to be called "foreman" from the latin "he who can speak".

[drumwrecker]

Spiderman has hit the nail on the head. What police we have left patrolling the roads and towns don't seem to have the will to combat the small indiscretions even with a verbal warning, so if the police ignore it it must be OK to do it, so a wrong becomes a right. Like throwing litter, cycling on the pavement, using mobile phones whilst driving, hogging the middle lane, parking on a junction/on the brow of a hill/on the pavement and on and on. Apart from the litter these can all be the cause of accidents.
My brother who is blind has the answer to cars on the pavement, he uses his walking stick to get by the obstruction leaving the car nicely marked with the steel tip of his stick.

[Alpinestarhero]

I think the law is usless. When i used to ride to college on a pug sppedfight 100 scooter (it made me FEEL like a motorcyclist when i overtook the kids on their 50's!) i lost count of the people who where on phones, and how many made big errors whilst in "control" of their car using their phone.

Now im a pedestrian (boo) i get to see it more, and have lost count at the amount of times ive nearly got run over by ********s on their phones! (mostly students driving daddy's bmw trying too look 'ard)

Since they dont get fined for breaking the law, motorcyclists shouldnt get fined for brealing the speed limit (aslong as its not stupidly breaking it, like doing 180 on your R1 through a 20 zone...)

oh well. Nowt we can do about it!

Matt

[Spiderman]

.....
Since they dont get fined for breaking the law, motorcyclists shouldnt get fined for brealing the speed limit (aslong as its not stupidly breaking it, like doing 180 on your R1 through a 20 zone...)

Matt

Sounds like an ideal balance to me ;) :lol:

[zx6man]

Alone in the car, I use voice only on the sat nav....and always have my phone on silent....I am a good boy

[The Basket]

A man got beaten to death in a drunken fight in town and the perp got 18 months. I'm now no longer surprised by our 'justice' system. I'm sure using a mobile phone is considered a harsher crime than killing people.