Mobile Phones & SAT-NAV etc.

Since I've been on my bike I've really noticed how much the use of devices such as SAT-NAV and mobile phones etc.

When I was in my car a) I never really noticed how many people used these devices, especially phones. b) I never noticed just how much these devices actually affected peoples driving (even at low speeds).

Almost every night on the way home I am run over by some **** sending a text message or playing with their SAT-NAV in traffic or some plonker on the phone. I thought that this was supposed to be illegal???

We need some unmarked old bill on bikes to filter through the traffic and nick these idiots to try and keep us lot in one piece.......

[timwilky]

What annoyed me was driving up the M6 a few weeks ago and I had a van driving like a prat in front of me. When I overtake, yes he is on the phone. The van. it belonged to the Rocket Centre.

A few miles further up there is another van again from a bike shop (But I have forgotten the name as it wasn't one I knew) on the bloody phone.

My Brother a biker has been done 3 times for using his phone. I use sat nav even when I know the route to get the traffic alerts. But I listen and turn off the display. I set it before I set off.

It's incredible just how much these drivers swerve from one side to the next, even when they are crawling. The first time I saw it I thought that it was just that the person driving was a wrong un' but it seems to be happening more and more and in the wet can be a real issue.

It always seems to be at night and quite rarely in the morning.

[Bluepete]

Just wait until late February when using a mobile phone becomes a £60 fine with three points on your license! We fully expect the courts to be overflowing with not guilty pleas from motorists refusing to accept the points!
On the plus side, mobile phone companies will reap the rewards as every motorist who refuses the ticket and opts for a court appearance may have their phone seized!
And yes, the motorbike cops dish out hundreds of tickets for this. So do I, but it is often difficult to spot from the car and as it is designed to be as visible as possible, they see us before we see them.

I agree in a car v.difficult, that's why I suggested the bike.

Down my stretch of the A2 on the way home - there would be hundreds of fines every night.......

I wasn't aware of the 3 points and £60 notes in Feb, I hope it works.

Over the winter I've noticed a huge amount of SatNav devices (though I haven't seen anyone actually playing with it & therefore affecting driving).

Those dash mounts are amazing. Coming up behind a car in the dark, what's that little light in the middle of the window? Oh yea, that'll be SatNav. So they're either a sales rep, or a tourist. Most folks don't use sat nav on routes they know like the back of their hand (timwilky probably being the exception that proves it)

[timwilky]

But the problem is not just phones. I regularly see ladies doing their makeup. people reading reports/newspapers etc. How do you discriminate between these types of stupid act, and everyday events such as taking a sweet out of a bag. Yes looking in the bag is dangerous. but to convict somebody of eating a sweet whilst driving would be ludicrous.

My worst example of poor driving was a car in front of me on the M6, two women in it and the driver would turn to look at her friend every time she said a word. She was one of the idiots who hog the 2nd lane yet wandered into both 1st and 3rd lanes during her conversations.

I almost had the A-Class wrote off last night and another driver coming in the opposite direction when some Chav shot out from a side street.
He shot across the junction to the next road with-out stopping even though we had right of way, he was on his mobile, in a hatch back Citroen or something with a loud can.
I think the can was what made me look...