Driving using a Mobile without Handsfree - Soon to become an ...

[ClaireDavid]

The cost of using your mobile phone is going up, if you use it inappropriately in the car.

As of 27th February 2007 the penalty for using your mobile whilst driving, without an approved hands free connection, is set to rise from a £30 non-endorsable fixed penalty fine to a £60 fine with 3 penalty points endorsable on your driving licence.

Whilst the use of hand held mobile phones has been an offence since 1st December 2003 the increase in the penalty reflects the seriousness of the offence and recognises that driving whilst using such a device is extremely dangerous and is scientifically proven to be distracting. The changes to the Road Safety Act 2006 to allow for the new fixed penalty measures is designed to help achieve casualty reduction targets and improve safety on the roads.

Providing that the phone can be used without holding it, hands free equipment is not prohibited although the general advice is not to use a mobile in the car at any time. For clarification a hand held device is defined as something that is or must be held at some point during the course of making a call or performing any other interactive function, clearly some 'hands free' devices on the market do not meet with this criteria and the public are being advised to be careful when purchasing such equipment. Even using approved hands free equipment is a distraction and research suggests you are 4 times more likely to be involved in a crash than by not using a hands free mobile at all.

Of particular note - is that incidents have occured with people using Walkie Talkie type handsets - This kind of divice is included and you will be fined for using it. ACPO (the Association of Chief Police Officers) has also said that they will not be allowing Police to have a "Discressionary Period" and aloow non endordable tickets to be issued. from 27th February it will be straight onto the Endordable fines.

About time too. I am tired of being almost forced off the road or felt unsafe because some idiot is weaving all over the road or not paying attention because they are too busy talking. I recall one particular incident where one guy, coming of the slip road onto the motorway I was on, continued doing 28mph in lane 1, phone in hand, chatting away, then saddled both lanes 1 & 2 for a while before returning to lane 1, where he then took the other hand off the wheel, to fish about in the passenger glove box and ducked completely out of sight! came back up and proceeded to fold a map out accross the steering wheel, still taking on the phone!

 

[AnnM1]

Not a moment too soon either!

 

[ThePlotter]

Not wishing to be contentious but have you noticed that the culprits are often in large expensive cars or the more expensive 4x4s like the X5 surely if they can afford these motors and no doubt the top phone they can afford the hands free kit.This is all the more puzzling when if you get a new phone like I did this month they will give you hands free gear as part of the deal if you push them.

 

[cooky1]

Most people I see using the mobile while driving are wagon drivers, young drivers and white van man - oh and also a lot of the scumbags near where I live, driving their L200's.

 

[cris_408518]

I think your post is rather contentious Plotter. I know some X5 owners and thir cars cam with hands free kiys integrated into the screen on the dash.

Before we moved some of he biggest culprits we saw were the Police, Bus, Coach and some smaller Lorry drivers and the likes of skip hire drivers.

Some of the biggest culprits are women, one instance is where a company supplied staff with Bluetooth head sets every time they got new phones. When one male member of staff lost his blue tooth head set he asked if anyone has a spare the next day four women brought in 3 un used Bluetooths each. Never used on the road despite making many calls as they either couldn't work out how to use them or they didn't like the look of them or the messed up their looks!

Not the only case of this, three of my wifes female colleagues have been stopped whilst using mobiles.

 

[Lol1]

Most people I see using phones on the move, are those at work. Van drivers, truck drivers, sale reps, the list goes on. For this, we must thank the employers who no doubted, supply the phones and because of recent legislation, blue tooth and hands free kits as well. So this makes it OK to make or answer a call, right? No, not really, more often than not, it's not how you listen to the conversation that effect your driving, it's the fact that your listening at all. I don't care if you can multi task, the fact is, you are not fully concentrating on the road conditions while on the phone.

It's not a holier than thou sort of statement either. I do the same, my supervisor needing to give me information on the work I'm doing, some of it safety related, I'm obliged to answer because they have given me a blue tooth headset. I'm not safe with it though, I get into lane one, where my speed deteriorates and my concentration on the road wonders. I see exactly the same thing, all day long on the motorway.

Mobile phones are here to stay, so what's the cure? Certainly, in a business environment, the company will have to accept that phones won't be answered until the driver has pulled into a safe location, no matter how long that may take. When the time is your own, don't answer or make that call, the service provider has a message service, use it.

 

[cris_408518]

I see where you are coming from Lol but there are other issues as well. And a lot of employers have a lot to answer to!

ALso the following can be far worse than mobile phones -

Loud music and stereos, and with LCD displays playing video like picures. Noisy ill behaved kids as passengers and DVD players and games distracting drivers. Also you have a heck of a lot of dope heads and people on medication on the road to wanering around the highways half awake if that!

 

[dragon32a]

Give the law the right to sieze and stamp on the phone of anyone caught using them whilst driving I say.

Don

 

[JoannaLesley]

Can someone explain the difference between holding a (handsfree) conversation on the phone and talking to a passenger? And don't get me started on the drivers who MUST look at a passenger when they are chatting in a car - I've followed hundreds and I bet you have too.

 

[ClaireDavid]

I still find it quite astonishing at just what some people will do whilst driving... and think its okay. Mobile Phones have always been my little bugbear, no phonecall is that important to potentially die for - and if it is, then pull over! I also take some quite strong medication for an illness I have which leaves me very woozy and imparis my judgement (it feels like ive had one vodka too many) so I dont drive.. period. I know Im not safe. BUt on the kids side... My other huge bugbear is parents who let their children bounce around - unrestrained in thr back (and sometimes front) seats while they sit there belted up! How on earth would these parents live with themselves if they had an accident? Ive heard several times how their justification is that they are a good driver... what they fail to see is that not everyone else on the road is....

 

[Val & Frank]

I agree with stopping the use of mobile phones because it is dangerous, but so to is smoking, or having a drink etc when driving at 70mph on a busy motorway. 3 points for eating an apple !!!. The list goes on and on.

The question should be why do we have so many accidents on our major trunk routes ?? Is it because everyones on the phone,or eating?? or is it something fundemental ??

Val & Frank

 

[ClaireDavid]

I guess it depends on how badly they were driving whilst eating the apple... As soon as both hands come off the wheel.. for whatever reason it can be deamed as Dangerous Driving. but the Police can, and do use leniencey (sometime too much!) so i guess in the apple case, what was the risk to the other drivers on the road and whether it was a "jobsworth" ticket, If it was unfairly issued, then the courts would have cancelled it without a moments hesitation... Thing is there are enough things to watch out for driving normally without creating more distractions of your own...

 

[cris_408518]

I think phone calls are supposed to be more intense often so you take your mind of the driving job in hand.

As a non smoker I notice people hunting around for the *** packet and then the lighter or even a light taken from pocket when they get to finding it.

Then there are the ones opening and closing windows and ditch the ash or the *** itself and others that poke their head from the window to exhale smoke outside the car so it doesn't reak of fags or upset their partners.

Police radios and phones and other emergency services another.

Head banging drivers with pumping music and the MacDonalds Drive-In dopes are one of my favourites.

You must have seen them heading away from MaccyD's in a sooped up Corsa held together by superglue and a prayer as the bag heads out one window as the passenger blows the straw tube cover out the other one and hands the driver the drink as other parts of the order are balanced on the dash as the driver sites his coke and grabs at the cascading bag of fries as he's just swerved whilst placing the cup in the holder that does not take a Litre of Coke Cup. Then you dodge the bits of pickle, tomato and lettuce that are ejected through the window covered in mayo as many of todays youngsters don't do veggies! And do remember to look out for the drinks holder tray and the half empty coke cup as it explodes in front of you as "going Large" was a step to far coke wise!

Then there are the girlies applying make up and business man with the battery shaver late for a meeting, and those with every clubbing music CD released between the Ministry of Sound and AyaNapa trying to find the button to open the radio facia that then takes the disc.

And then there are those that worry that a Satnav might distract a driver whilst poorer White Van men and others who can't run to a basic I3 Garmin or Tom Tom One thumb through three year old dog eared ripped AA map books as they drive towards you oblivious of your brake lights about to explode as they and you pray that the driver gets the map under control as he still has the window open from his *** or burger binge.

 

[Angus1]

Absolutely brilliant!

Just what we need, another law, only who`s going to enforce it?

Perhaps the same people that "police" those who drive without licences, or insurance, or under the influence of drugs, or in stolen cars, or drive whilst disqualified, or with lights out, or without seatbelts, or go through red traffic lights (all the time now...)or....

Get the picture?

Another useless piece of legislation which won`t be worth the paper it`s written on.

Theres already enough legislation which applied could stop all of the offences, but as there will never be enough police to enforce the existing legislation the only point of additional laws is as a sop to a particular pressure group in the hope it may yield votes at some indeterminate time in the future.

 

[BeemerMal]

Most people I see using the mobile while driving are wagon drivers, young drivers and white van man - oh and also a lot of the scumbags near where I live, driving their L200's.

Plotter...Generalising are you? I drive an X5 and I certainly don't use a handheld phoned. Rather a narrow view is'nt it!

 

[BeemerMal]

Plotter...Generalising are you? I drive an X5 and I certainly don't use a handheld phoned. Rather a narrow view is'nt it!

Sorry Greame..this should have been under Plotter post, was'nt concentrating when I sent it...on the phone while typing! Mal

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Give the law the right to sieze and stamp on the phone of anyone caught using them whilst driving I say.

Don

...... that's after stamping on the offenders head - oops I might get told off by some goody goody for advocating violence - so sorry :O(

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

I still find it quite astonishing at just what some people will do whilst driving... and think its okay. Mobile Phones have always been my little bugbear, no phonecall is that important to potentially die for - and if it is, then pull over! I also take some quite strong medication for an illness I have which leaves me very woozy and imparis my judgement (it feels like ive had one vodka too many) so I dont drive.. period. I know Im not safe. BUt on the kids side... My other huge bugbear is parents who let their children bounce around - unrestrained in thr back (and sometimes front) seats while they sit there belted up! How on earth would these parents live with themselves if they had an accident? Ive heard several times how their justification is that they are a good driver... what they fail to see is that not everyone else on the road is....

............ or the ones with either their dog on their lap or with the window wound down with the dog hanging out.

 

[ClaireDavid]

Fair point about there being too little Policing Officers Angus... Unfortunately human nature being thus that if there is a way for people to avoid responsibility by blaming anything and everyone else for a fine of just a few quid. Hopefully, having this one more heavy on the pocket, and points too, will make people stop and think before using their phones, which can only be a good thing really...

 

[ClaireDavid]

I think phone calls are supposed to be more intense often so you take your mind of the driving job in hand.

As a non smoker I notice people hunting around for the *** packet and then the lighter or even a light taken from pocket when they get to finding it.

Then there are the ones opening and closing windows and ditch the ash or the *** itself and others that poke their head from the window to exhale smoke outside the car so it doesn't reak of fags or upset their partners.

Police radios and phones and other emergency services another.

Head banging drivers with pumping music and the MacDonalds Drive-In dopes are one of my favourites.

You must have seen them heading away from MaccyD's in a sooped up Corsa held together by superglue and a prayer as the bag heads out one window as the passenger blows the straw tube cover out the other one and hands the driver the drink as other parts of the order are balanced on the dash as the driver sites his coke and grabs at the cascading bag of fries as he's just swerved whilst placing the cup in the holder that does not take a Litre of Coke Cup. Then you dodge the bits of pickle, tomato and lettuce that are ejected through the window covered in mayo as many of todays youngsters don't do veggies! And do remember to look out for the drinks holder tray and the half empty coke cup as it explodes in front of you as "going Large" was a step to far coke wise!

Then there are the girlies applying make up and business man with the battery shaver late for a meeting, and those with every clubbing music CD released between the Ministry of Sound and AyaNapa trying to find the button to open the radio facia that then takes the disc.

And then there are those that worry that a Satnav might distract a driver whilst poorer White Van men and others who can't run to a basic I3 Garmin or Tom Tom One thumb through three year old dog eared ripped AA map books as they drive towards you oblivious of your brake lights about to explode as they and you pray that the driver gets the map under control as he still has the window open from his *** or burger binge.

LMAO!!!!! brilliant!

 

[JoannaLesley]

Fair point about there being too little Policing Officers Angus... Unfortunately human nature being thus that if there is a way for people to avoid responsibility by blaming anything and everyone else for a fine of just a few quid. Hopefully, having this one more heavy on the pocket, and points too, will make people stop and think before using their phones, which can only be a good thing really...

And how many people driving can't see???? Apparently very few of us have a regular eye test and once you get your licence at 17 or so, there's nothing to stop you driving to 70 and beyond without it ever being checked again. In my book, we would all have to have regular eye tests which provide a certificate saying that your sight is good enough and then the certificate becomes part of the driving licence. At our own cost of course - after all, we are the ones who want to drive. Or is that too radical?

 

[John_374224558]

Saw one chap using a mobile while driving a few weeks ago......he was driving a NATIONAL EXPRESS COACH which was in passenger service!! This was on the M25 which is not exactly renowned for being a road where you can get away without concentrating.

 

[peter_374235415]

Some of the biggest offenders are the police themselves. How often do you see on them on television in documentaries etc talking into their radios and I've seen them locally doing the same whilst driving. One rule for one....

 

[emmerson2]

What about the car negotiating a roundabout, driver on the phone with left hand, turning wheel with right hand, which also held a sandwich? Oh, btw the car had flashing blue lights and stripes down the side!!

 

[emmerson2]

I was also overtaken the other day in a 50 limit by a van sporting the livery of the local camera partnership. And yes I was doing 55mph. One law for them, one for us.