Six points & £200 fine for using a mobile phone at the wheel

[MadMechanic]

All well and good but how are they going to catch these people?

I travel around 4 miles to work each day and I see at least five or six people driving and on their phone every trip, it is a shame the police/courts won't accept dashcam footage to prosecute people

 

[Stoneybroke]

Sadly those who use their mobiles to talk or text or read/reply to social media have never seen the consequences. Points and fines are little deterrent when there is little chance of being caught - police numbers have fallen to the lowest level since the last century, and traffic specialists have, in most forces, all but vanished.
There is no reason why Dashcam footage could not be used to support a prosecution, along with your eyewitness evidence (if someone can be spared to take your witness statement), however they tend to be forward facing and wide angle, so the clarity, angle of view, etc., may not be clear enough to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, the identity of the driver or that the item they were handling was a mobile phone. Rear-facing cameras may be more convincing as they will show a driver more clearly.
If you have a crash whilst using a phone, the results can be devastating - the collision may not even be your fault, but if someone dies or is seriously injured the driver on the phone will go to prison.
Using phones whilst driving wrecks lives.
I've seen the consequences...

 

[WelshGas]

They could use roadside cameras facing the flow of traffic to capture drivers identity and accurately timed. May even be able to detect phone identity etc.
Don't know if they still do it, but in Germany speed cameras took a photo of the car head on showing the Driver and Reg Number with Date, time and speed . Unfortunately the details were over printed on the L side overlaying the Front Passenger seat for a LHD car. Very helpful if you were driving a UK RHD vehicle. As the driver could not be identified you just got the photo and a warning.

A similar system could be used.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Just buy hands free if you want to use it.
Ours is great.
We asked for it to be fitted but would buy a factory ftted as steering wheel is much slicker.

 

[WelshGas]

Just buy hands free if you want to use it.
Ours is great.
We asked for it to be fitted but would buy a factory ftted as steering wheel is much slicker.

But that's the problem. These phones are frequently not used for voice calls but texts and Social Media . Hands free not much help in that case.
In fact it is probably less dangerous taking a voice call than looking down at a screen to read/send a text or a Social Media notification.
My phone is ignored in the car, as the family have at long last realised. They phone my wife instead.

 

[Stoneybroke]

Just buy hands free if you want to use it.
Ours is great.
We asked for it to be fitted but would buy a factory ftted as steering wheel is much slicker.

Sorry, but it's not that simple - when you are talking on the phone is your attention really on the road?
These professional drivers thought they were driving OK as they were hands free: -

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/...led-after-man-killed-in-cannock-bypass-smash/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...onvicted-causing-death-dangerous-driving.html

http://www.westbriton.co.uk/coach-d...rous-driving/story-29643229-detail/story.html

There will be others, and no doubt there were other factors apart from the phone.

What phone call is so important that it has to be answered instantly? What call so urgent that it cannot wait until the next lay-by, service station, or when you get home?

 

[Stolly]

Yeah hands free isn't the answer. A while back there was a guy from the AA talking about this and pointing out that, whilst talking into a mobile phone while driving is illegal, it was perfectly legal to talk hands free whilst driving and holding a banana to your ear

As for messaging or facebooking while driving, the problem there is that its almost impossible to see the perpetrators actually doing it as, likely as not, they'll have the phone on their lap

 

[snowy55]

Points, fine and crush the vehicle imo.

 

[SprintGT]

Points, fine and crush the vehicle imo.

That's all very well if it is the offender's vehicle but no deterrent if it is a company car or hired. I certainly believe a harsh punishment is deserved and some way effective way of catching those people should be introduced.

 

[Stolly]

I'm in no way defending the use of mobile phones while driving but, whilst we're busily making pariahs of mobile phone using drivers, put that into perspective with other distractions nowadays in the car. What about keeping an eye on the sat nav, fiddle faddling with the radio, having a bad cold (insert any other brain befuddling illness or ailment here), sneezing, lighting a cigarette, a sip of coffee, a snack, having a car full of noisy kids, having an argument with somebody in the car. Or doing all at the same time

 

[SprintGT]

I'm in no way defending the use of mobile phones while driving but, whilst we're busily making pariahs of mobile phone using drivers, put that into perspective with other distractions nowadays in the car. What about keeping an eye on the sat nav, fiddle faddling with the radio, having a bad cold (insert any other brain befuddling illness or ailment here), sneezing, lighting a cigarette, a sip of coffee, a snack, having a car full of noisy kids, having an argument with somebody in the car. Or doing all at the same time

I think the focus is on mobile phone users because it has been so prevalent and newsworthy. Some of the points you mentioned ie radio, coffee, snack come under the heading 'driving without due care and attention' and in any event I don't believe them to be such a long term distraction as a telephone conversation, with the exception of noisy kids. I appreciate that some people can multi-task while driving, like those who can put on their make-up or shave, depending on gender, but I can't and I think the same applies to must of us. Sorry Stolly you have started me rambling on now.There are all manner of distracting things that drivers get up to or suffer ( back to noisy children again) from reading maps or books to retrieving dropped items from the footwell or the cd from the glove compartment. The fact remains that to use your mobile without hands free whilst driving is against the law and is a very risky business.

 

[Stolly]

Ironically the actual act of speaking into the phone while driving probably compares with all the other distractions I mentioned above and maybe no more dangerous than most of them. Texting or internetting while driving of course goes off the scale as maybe does the act of making the call (pressing the buttons etc). Again the radio interview that I listened to with the guy from the AA made the best points in that while on a mobile phone the person you are speaking to has no concept of your situation, the weather, speed etc etc. Distractions from others in the car would have a very good idea of these situational elements. Ergo hand held or hands free calls should be banned

 

[briwy]

The company I worked for had in the employees handbook that it mobiles should not be used in company vehicles even though they were all fitted with hands free kits.
Very difficult to ignore business calls when you are driving upwards of 40/50k miles a year as it equates to a lot of lost time but it is very distracting having an important call while driving. Part of the problem is that nowadays everyone expects instant communication and answers.
On the subject of eating while driving I believe the was a lady fined a while ago for eating a KitKat while at the wheel. Presumably the problem is the unwrapping rather than the actual eating.

 

[SprintGT]

The company I worked for had in the employees handbook that it mobiles should not be used in company vehicles even though they were all fitted with hands free kits.
Very difficult to ignore business calls when you are driving upwards of 40/50k miles a year as it equates to a lot of lost time but it is very distracting having an important call while driving. Part of the problem is that nowadays everyone expects instant communication and answers.
On the subject of eating while driving I believe the was a lady fined a while ago for eating a KitKat while at the wheel. Presumably the problem is the unwrapping rather than the actual eating.

I have every sympathy with business users and I imagine the problem of driving whilst communicating will remain until the introduction of driverless vehicles. But that's another story.

 

[Andy]

I' seen foreign truck drivers watching a dvd on open laptop whilst overtaking me !

Also seen drivers shaving, putting on makeup , brushing hair ..... whilst driving on motorway. Nothing surprises me any more.

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[johnyboy]

We live near the headline cyclist death of last year - the one where the guy was a repeat offender; 9 years in jail and 14 year ban is what he got for a completely preventable death.

As for detection the police have patrolled the M3 in an unmarked, left hand drive, lorry cab for a better position on detection so I have heard

 

[GrannyJen]

I don't give a damn how important it is, if I am in my car then the phone is off and if I am in my car and the driving requires max concentration then the passengers get told to shut up and the radio goes off.

It really is not that difficult to plan a trip from A to B and in that planning find somewhere to stop en-route and catch up with all those little things that need catching up with. However what I would find difficult, and possibly never recover from, is seeing images of devastation and knowing that I caused it and the resulting casualties.

I am no saint, I am responsible in my lifetime for doing some incredibly stupid things whilst driving and if I close my eyes and think back then that " there but for the grace of God" thought is not far away.

.What I am really saying is if nothing else I try and mitigate against my own stupidity by reducing the number of idiotic things that I could be tempted to do.

 

[GrannyJen]

We live near the headline cyclist death of last year - the one where the guy was a repeat offender; 9 years in jail and 14 year ban is what he got for a completely preventable death.

As for detection the police have patrolled the M3 in an unmarked, left hand drive, lorry cab for a better position on detection so I have heard

I do believe they are also using tractors so they get a good view into the cab when being overtaken.

It would be sight for sore eyes though to suddenly see the single rotating yellow light being replaced by hidden blues and a tractor in hot pursuit down a carriageway

 

[Keith Smith]

Mythbusters, an American TV show, tested how impaired a driver was whilst using a phone and it was shocking to see how much difference it made whilst he drove round an obstacle course. Later in the show he drank enough to get to the point he couldn't walk or talk straight and his driving was about as bad as when he had used a mobile. I think an automatic 12 month ban for the first offence would deter most people, with a 5 year ban for a second offence. Better than sending people to jail after they have hurt someone.

 

[SprintGT]

I think an automatic 12 month ban for the first offence would deter most people, with a 5 year ban for a second offence. Better than sending people to jail after they have hurt someone.

IMO most offenders don't think of the possible consequences of their actions and they certainly don't believe they will be caught.

 

[ArunAlec]

Points, fine and crush the vehicle imo.

And the phone!

 

[Skylark2.0]

Sorry, but it's not that simple - when you are talking on the phone is your attention really on the road?
These professional drivers thought they were driving OK as they were hands free: -

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/...led-after-man-killed-in-cannock-bypass-smash/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...onvicted-causing-death-dangerous-driving.html

http://www.westbriton.co.uk/coach-d...rous-driving/story-29643229-detail/story.html

There will be others, and no doubt there were other factors apart from the phone.

What phone call is so important that it has to be answered instantly? What call so urgent that it cannot wait until the next lay-by, service station, or when you get home?

It is very easy to tune out of someone on hands free if needs be and not very different to having a conversation with a passenger.
Why is this different to a talkng book, a radio station or even a CD?
A distracting passenger or a sneezing fit are far harder to deal with.
Driving is all about dealing with multiple inputs and doing the sensible thing.

 

[MattBW]

Also seen drivers shaving, putting on makeup , brushing hair ..... whilst driving on motorway. Nothing surprises me any more.

Was that the same person?

 

[MattBW]

Our business now has a policy of no mobile phone use whilst driving. if we call someone and hear road noise we say bye and call back later. Even our emergency engineers have to pull over to answer their phones.

We had various people from emergency services come in and talk about the reality of accidents. There was one guy, a truck driver, had spent years in jail and had killed someone. He was on hands free but thought he was on a dual carriageway because he was distracted by a mundane conversation. He went to overtake a hit a van head on. The other driver died. His story (from prison) sure did hit home and he was clearly broken by the experience.

It sure makes you think twice. So much so I didn't get a mic fitted on my van in the end.

 

[MattBW]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1116115728532912&id=205285549615939&ref=bookmarks


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