Drivers using mobile phones

[fluffybunnyuk]

Cruising into central london today down new cross rd/old kent rd and a driver using a mobile pulls out from a junction not looking right in front of me. tapped on her window, pointed at the phone....shes still using the phone ... i pull away and shes STILL using the phone. The sad thing is she had 2 kids in the back.

Still I reported it so I feel better, last i'll hear of it though...but civic duty done

Feel free to moan about drivers using mobiles, just not this case since its in the hands of the police. Dont want to spoil anything in the unlikely event it goes anywhere.

Emma

[cozumel]

In London, I've also seen drivers doing their hair, makeup, shaving, reading the newspaper/maps, sending texts, couples performing acts of a sexual nature, eating with no hands on the wheel & using knees to steer, turning round to argue with the kids in the back seat or their partner in the passenger seat, getting dressed from jimjams to suit & tie, brushing their teeth, plucking eyebrows, plucking nasal hairs, using their hand out the window to manually works the windscreen wipers. Loads more too besides...

What does this all mean? Haven't got a clue. Maybe, just to be extra vigilant at all times and be prepared for the unexpected....

[fluffybunnyuk]

lol... i need to get myself a little notebook then and start scoring... I'll be on the lookout for those!!!

Any ideas on a points system... and how many for spotting the amorous couple!!!

Haha Emma

[Michael R]

should automatic loss of license for one year for first offense, doubvling after that.

Otherwise taken out at dawn and shot..

Same with all road users including cyclists

[Vantage]

I saw some clown on a bike the other day...both hands off the bars...looking at his mobile...texting.
I stood there hoping he'd hit a big deep pothole...

[wrangler_rover]

"I saw some clown on a bike the other day...both hands off the bars...looking at his mobile...texting.
I stood there hoping he'd hit a big deep pothole..."

When you saw the said clown, from the "I stood there" it looks like you were a pedestrian.
If you had said "I saw him from my car" no doubt all manner of fury would have been unleashed by now.

[cozumel]

That's actually quite talented. It's got to be difficult cycling whilst texting, even more impressive when you consider the big floppy oversize shoes and red nose the clown was no doubt wearing.

[cozumel]

Any ideas on a points system... and how many for spotting the amorous couple!!!

Given that there's probably well over 100 different things to identify, it should probably be weight-indexed according to the likelihood of an event being witnessed. I think the type of event should also have a factor when rating an occurrence falling within this classification. Taking that into account, I would imagine a couple in a state of heightened arousal whilst driving would be scored at somewhere between the the 68-70 mark!

[jonbott]

I held up traffic in st ives a while back,was riding into a roundabout and a lady pulled out from my left on her mobile,so I stopped and shouted get off yer phone!

[661-Pete]

Another much-discussed topic - and alas I don't believe any amount of reporting of offenders will change things. Go ahead and report, perhaps the police collate reports as intelligence and go for multiple offenders. One can only hope so.

An analogy: we've had speeding being illegal since before the motor car was invented (remember the red flag? Mr Toad?) - signed speed limits since the 1930s I believe - radar traps since the 1950s (is it true, the old story about AA patrolmen saluting, or not saluting?) etc. etc. - but motorists still speed. Deterrence hasn't stopped them in a century or more.

So what hope for stamping out mobile phone use whilst driving?

Sorry this is a bit .

[cozumel]

I disagree with you 661-Pete. I believe it will be a problem that is phased out due to technological upgrades within the motor industry.

The cockpit interface is become more and more computerised with every passing year.

By the end of the century all vehicles will have fully computerised entertainment systems, navigation systems, communication systems. etc etc. The whole experience will be hands free right down to the autopilot. You speak to the command console and it will interact to advise accordingly. It will be full on artificial intelligence. A hand-held phone won't even exist at that point as everyone will be chipped. Our great-grandsons and daughters will be able to stick their dog in the car and tell the car to take it to the vet! No driver needed!

So the next 100 years will be better!

Obviously doesn't help us though (at this point of our global evolution)

[Vantage]

It's ok. They believe they pay road tax. This makes them exempt from law, common sense and morals.

[Vantage]

I believe it will be a problem that is phased out due to technological upgrades within the motor industry.

The cockpit interface is become more and more computerised with every passing year.

Personally I believe this is one of the problems with modern road vehicles. There is so much computerized help that drivers are becoming distracted and lazy.

By the end of the century all vehicles will have fully computerised entertainment systems, navigation systems, communication systems. etc etc. The whole experience will be hands free right down to the autopilot. You speak to the command console and it will interact to advise accordingly.

We're already there from what I've seen in my sisters car. Her Apple iPhone actually plugs into the dashboard and the whole car then becomes an even more mobile phone...it has wheels!

It will be full on artificial intelligence.

Isn't this also known as a driver with a smartphone with apps?

[Redvee]

I saw some clown on a bike the other day...both hands off the bars...looking at his mobile...texting.

Me too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jkX4L2w2Vo

[mrjemm]

Roll on the day when cars are gone the way of the dodo.

In the meantime, roll on the day they're self-driving generic pods on lease from the state/council, and with all the facilities and comfort of a public convenience to discourage pointless use.

...And I must confess to occasional texting on my bike, but on one particular stretch of my local shared path which is straight and has no exits, etc. Me bad.