Enforcing mobile phones legislation

[Cyril Haearn]

The offence has already been committed if phone used while engine is running or with keys still in the ignition.

Correct. The law does not differentiate but using the phone when the vehicle is moving is worse than when it is stationary

I wonder whether I should refuse to move off until the call has been completed

[Cyril Haearn]

Please complete the following sentence for ten points

Being caught telephoning while driving is as unlikely as..

My suggestion: as unlikely as a grand coalition putting a stop to brexit

[Grandad]

I haven't seen a single reason that makes my suggestion impracticable (apart from the power of the motoring lobby!)

No extra manpower - just launch the new rule with a countrywide highly publicised short campaign similar to the usual pre-Christmas drink drive ones.

High level of publicity on both the number of offenders and more importantly list a selection those who will suffer the most inconvenience for having to return to collect their phone the next day -e.g stopped somewhere up North whilst travelling home to London.

I'm sure this would very quickly provide the necessary motivation to make drivers think twice about using their phones.

It should work in spades for haulage drivers - perhaps the initial campaign should target cars, giving haulage firms time to get control over their drivers actions.

[Cyril Haearn]

The "severe" new penalties don't seem to have made a scrap of difference so what would motivate drivers to stay legal?

Well, how about immediate confiscation of the offending phone - recover it from the nearest police station to where it was taken after a period of 24 hours. Maximum inconvenience with minimum effort

A deterrent with real teeth.

364 days with the phone!?!? No no. Even if the phone was confiscated far from home one could have it collected by courier for a few pounds

Instead the penalty could be doubled again and the cops could nick people waiting at the lights, no need to wait until they drive off

Great numbers of truckers would lose their licences immediately. The transport industry would have to be reorganised with much less capacity so for example bottled water would disappear from the shelves overnight, +2!

[Lance Dopestrong]

When someone is banned from driving their car should be crushed in front of them. If the offence involves a mobile phone the magistrate should be allowed to smash the phone with their gavel, and they should be banned from using or possessing a mobile phone for the duration of the ban.

[meic]

I was thinking about the new law taking the daughter to the school bus today.
I can detect a reduction in the number of drivers who are using hand-helds, you still see the odd white van man blatantly chatting on the phone almost hanging out of the window doing so. Yet the numbers do seem much lower, before you would see three every day on that very short trip, now I see one every third day.

[pete75]

Why do people need to physically use them. Almost all cars these days apart from the most basic integrate the phone with the car and handle all the phone stuff without the driver taking hands off steering wheel. Certainly the last three we've bought have had it.
Now whether or not it's a good idea to talk on via a phone when driving is a different matter - is it any different to talking with passengers for instance..

[Bonefishblues]

AIUI in France radar detector technology is illegal. Again AIUI the police are in the habit of asking the driver to remove the offending item and put it on the ground. Said driver is then required to demonstrate their ability to operate their vehicle.

Not sure if apocryphal, but obvious solution is obvious.

[pete75]

I haven't seen a single reason that makes my suggestion impracticable (apart from the power of the motoring lobby!)

And there you have the reason why it's impractical.

[Lance Dopestrong]

How about a device that senses electromagnetic emissions and tasers the driver? Couple that with a tiny explosive charge in the phone that activates and destroys it if used in a car.

The government should just do what the majority of law abiding folk want, and make it a banning offence. No argument, no guff in Court about hardship cos you should have thought about that beforehand. The car should also be seized and crushed from banned drivers, and the offending mobile phone destroyed. Its the most simple law to obey, you can't accidentally break it , so offenders deserve to be punished very severely.

[Cyril Haearn]

How about a device that senses electromagnetic emissions and tasers the driver? Couple that with a tiny explosive charge in the phone that activates and destroys it if used in a car.

The government should just do what the majority of law abiding folk want, and make it a banning offence. No argument, no guff in Court about hardship cos you should have thought about that beforehand. The car should also be seized and crushed from banned drivers, and the offending mobile phone destroyed. Its the most simple law to obey, you can't accidentally break it , so offenders deserve to be punished very severely.

Tasers, +1

I remember how Richard Brunstrom volunteered to be tasered, it made him swear

The Hamburg police are busy now but soon they will have plenty of equipment free, water-cannons and the like, to deal with normal drivers

[Lance Dopestrong]

Being taser'd isn't nice, but 5 seconds and its over. Being sprayed is much worse, agony for 45-60 minutes, then you have a wash and it activates all over again.