Mobile/Driving

[ben ashton]

What would you do if you saw someone talking on a mobile while driving and had the chance to potentially stop them?

I see these murderous ******** everyday chatting away while speeding along, I generally gesticulate in their direction but they usually too busy to notice.

However on Sunday was just about to cross a road at traffic lights when a limo pulled up and stopped way over the white line. This was enough to annoy me, but then I saw the driver on the phone, not just any old driver but a professional with a limo full of passengers, a wedding party in fact.

So I went over and knocked on his window, and surprisingly he opened the door looking very confused, I asked him was he on the phone while driving? -yes he said. That's illegal isn't it, I said. At this he drove off with the door barely shut before he had gone round the next corner.

I was happy with myself that I'd said something, but the fact that he drove off without hanging up and still talking to whoever it was rather nullified this. Next time I'm going to stand in front of the car until or grab phone and throw under wheels of a passing car, havn't decided yet!

Anyone have any better suggestions? Calling the police is incredibly pointless in Leicester, as they're all too busy playing vehicular hide & seek whilst simultaneously ignoring rape callouts, as Panorama (I think it was) a few years ago showed.

[jhopgood]

I, too, get upset at these dangerous idiots and have often wondered what can be done. Maybe whipping out your mobile phone and taking a photo of them, and the number plate, then telling them that you are off home to download it and sent it to Mr Plod, may inspire them to hang up.
I remonstrated strongly to the wife the other day when after mass, the village priest drove the wrong way down a one way street, talking on his phone and buckling up at the same time. I wanted to have words with him the next time I saw him for setting a bad example to the young of the village, but she claimed it would do no good as a) no-one else saw him and b) he is held in awe by the rest of the village, so apparently has rights the rest of us don't.
On the subject of mobiles, I think they are a curse, and everyone thinks answering a mobile phone is more important than continuing paying attention to the person in front of you. (This also applies to the phone)
I was at a lunch once hosted by someone very high up in Microsoft, (not Gates or Balmer but up there), when a phone went off and a conversation started. Since there were only 20 of us at lunch it was fairly obvious but no-one near him told him to either hang up or leave the room.
I use mobile phones for emergencies or very short advisory conversations, and that's that, but it seems to be a generational thing.

[Ajarn Philip]

AARRRRGHHHHHHHHH

Mobile phones - don't you just love 'em? I teach university students. I don't think I've been in a class yet where a mobile hasn't chirruped or sung at some point. "But I'm talking to my mother" doesn't help an awful lot either. A colleague once snatched the phone and asked mother if she would prefer to make sure her little precious was eating properly or to have him get his degree. Unfortunately she didn't speak English...

It has very recently become illegal in Thailand to use the mobile while driving. The fine is 200 baht, which comes out at about 3 quid. Mind you, that goes quite a long way here and is a day's wage for many. It's actually not car drivers who are the main problem here, but motorcycle riders. I know that sounds incredible, but it's a very common sight. They also ride these little motorbikes with one hand when it's raining, as the other is holding an umbrella. This afternoon, as I turned right into my little street, I had to cut the corner, because a chap on a motorbike (100cc) was waiting at the junction on the wrong side of the road, using one hand to control the bike and the other to control two squirming toddlers perched in front of him. As long as he wears a crash helmet (he wasn't) he's breaking no laws that I know of - certainly none that are enforced.

[marty]

Anyone have any better suggestions? Calling the police is incredibly pointless in Leicester, as they're all too busy playing vehicular hide & seek whilst simultaneously ignoring rape callouts, as Panorama (I think it was) a few years ago showed.

Only this evening I saw a white van man driving whilst on the mobile.

I'd suggest fighting fire with fire. Get out your mobile phone and take a picture of them talking on theirs. You can also use it to get their licence plate whilst you're at it. And even if you don't get a decent enough picture, the sight of you trying to photograph them in the act should be enough to put them off or even better - hang up.

[Jo]

Don't get me started......

The thing that annoys me is not that people use their mobiles whilst driving - I can understand the desire to make phone calls and I don't think talking itself is a distraction (I know some people disagree) - but that they fork out for a mobile but then are too tight to shell out a bit extra for a bluetooth headset or an in-car cradle. OK, if talking on the phone is so important to you, why can't you pay a bit more to do it legally?

It's all part of the "I was just....." attitude these days - have you noticed how people say that to try and minimise their misdemeanours? I know I knocked down a pedestrian, officer, but I was just making a quick call to the wife. Yeah, I blocked you in in the car park, but I was just running to the shop for a paper. No, you weren't "just" doing anything, you were being downright rude, ignorant and selfish!

Rant over........

[icomefromalanddownunder]

Anyone have any better suggestions? Calling the police is incredibly pointless in Leicester, as they're all too busy playing vehicular hide & seek whilst simultaneously ignoring rape callouts, as Panorama (I think it was) a few years ago showed.

If the offending driver is in a company vehicle with traceability, I ring the company concerned. I was onced thanked for not ringing the police, and explained that I didn't want the driver to lose his licence or job, I just wanted someone to explain the danger, never mind the illegality, of his actions. It was a dark and rainy night, and I was half-way along the length of his enormous articulated trailer when he pulled into 'my' lane, leaving me nowhere to go.

I am on a mission to make people accountable - to destroy the 'I was just .........' mentality that Jo wrote about.

[ben ashton]

I am on a mission to make people accountable - to destroy the 'I was just .........' mentality

The light has been seen!

[J.R.]

I can almost guarantee to see at least half a dozen people rabbiting on their mobiles whilst driving on my regular visits to the local town.

What REALLY p1sses me off, is youngsters holding inane conversations at the top of their voices on their phones in buses and on trains or in pubs.


Grrrrrrrr !!!

[Vonny]

I would say I see people on their mobs whilst driving every day - and it really riles me. And equally as bad, there's a woman who lives near me who I often see either eating at the wheel or putting on her makeup

[matthew]

The thing that annoys me is not that people use their mobiles whilst driving - I can understand the desire to make phone calls and I don't think talking itself is a distraction (I know some people disagree) - but that they fork out for a mobile but then are too tight to shell out a bit extra for a bluetooth headset or an in-car cradle. OK, if talking on the phone is so important to you, why can't you pay a bit more to do it legally?

The problem is distracted driving at least as much as where your hands go. In some ways, a hands-free kit is worse. It makes you feel safer, and hides the fact you're an idiot from other drivers.

[Jo]

I know people say that, but I'm not sure I agree. It's not quite the same as talking to a passenger but it's not so very different. If my phone rings when I'm about to negotiate any sort of manoeuvre that requires maximum concentration, I don't answer it. Other than that, I am perfectly capable of talking and driving at the same time. (I have a hands-free kit fitted by my employer as I do so much driving in my job).

In fact, we had a similar discussion on another e-group that I belong to, and some people (well, the women anyway, who can multi-task ) agreed that if it takes you all of your concentration to do normal driving, such that you can't talk at the same time, then that doesn't say much about your driving skills.

[Ajarn Philip]

Why does this discussion make me think of those occasions, sans phone/passenger/cd/radio/tv, etc., when you suddenly think, "Blimey, where did the last 20 miles go...?" I've always hoped I was on automatic pilot, constantly (if subconsciously) alert to any hazard. I have to say that, although my senior moments are on the increase, my driving has become much more focused since I've been in Thailand.

[Katharine]

I have to say that, although my senior moments are on the increase, my driving has become much more focused since I've been in Thailand.

I can well understand that after my time in Borneo. You would think that water buffalo would be fitted with rear reflectors wouldn't you? As for the little mopeds carrying the whole family + their means of livelihood, cards triple parked outside the school gates on a roundabout, .....

Here you have to be wary of the tourists, many seem to go on holiday without their brains. They are terrified that drystone walls will leap out and attack them so they drive in the middle of the road.

[Ajarn Philip]

You would think that water buffalo would be fitted with rear reflectors wouldn't you?

Funny you should say that - not too many buffalo on the roads these days, but quite a few elephants, and they do have rear reflectors - CDs on strings!

[matthew]

I know people say that, but I'm not sure I agree. It's not quite the same as talking to a passenger but it's not so very different. If my phone rings when I'm about to negotiate any sort of manoeuvre that requires maximum concentration, I don't answer it. Other than that, I am perfectly capable of talking and driving at the same time. (I have a hands-free kit fitted by my employer as I do so much driving in my job).

It's not really a matter of opinion, though. There have been studies into how cell phone use affects driving skill and collision rates, and they don't look so good for hands-free kits. It's an attractive idea that a cheap gadget makes the problem go away, but wishing won't make it so.