Increased Sanctions Proposed for Mobile Phone Use

[DSB SL AMG]

UK companies have all ready started banning handsfree phone use in company vehicles whilst driving....a friend works for National grid where this rule has already been introduced recently....I do agree in certain situations emergency vehicles etc this would not work.

 

[E55BOF]

It'd be a bit like punishing the majority for the sake of the idiocy of a small minority.

That, in a nutshell, is the issue. How do you punish the idiots without also punishing the rest?

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

UK companies have all ready started banning handsfree phone use in company vehicles whilst driving....a friend works for National grid where this rule has already been introduced recently....I do agree in certain situations emergency vehicles etc this would not work.

Our company has the Parrot CK1300 or whatever it is fitted to all vehicles and vans, in their words they don't condone making phone calls whilst driving however with these fitted they'd rather us use them than make an illegal call

Admittedly they are easy to use, one press of a button and voice activated. I find it more distracting receiving a call and struggling to read on the tiny display to see who's calling, than it is making a call

 

[Carrsey]

so how does that fit with a single crewed traffic officer in a pursuit doing commentary which is often the case around here ?

They are trained to do it..

 

[flango]

They are trained to do it..

No they aren't that's my point I used to train them. Use of two way radio or cellular communication whilst driving is not part of the Class1 response drivers course or it wasn't but times may have changed. The only section that addressed this was commentary to the instructor whilst driving.

 

[buccal]

On Fridays cycle home I repeatedly passed a chap on his laptop while driving.

The use of handsets is endemic in South London

 

[Driver15]

Meanwhile in Florida and plenty of states in the US it is legal to use your cell and drive a car.... even legal to drive a school bus full of kids and be on the phone if you wanted to.

State Distracted Driving Driving Laws

As most cars now come with bluetooth as standard, should be no excuse to be holding a phone.

The key issue is the addiction for some people to social media, texting and driving.

 

[HB]

They are trained to do it..

What's your take on all this ?

Maybe some wise words from you may educate others here and stop so much drivel that arrives on our screens from the overeducated ones on here.

 

[Carrsey]

No they aren't that's my point I used to train them. Use of two way radio or cellular communication whilst driving is not part of the Class1 response drivers course or it wasn't but times may have changed. The only section that addressed this was commentary to the instructor whilst driving.

Very strange, in all the training I have done I had to give commentary and if I could not or it affected my driving I would not pass.. Yes the commentary was sometimes to the instructor sat next to you however often (mainly pursuit training) the instructor in the subject vehicle acted as your control room and you communicated via the radio.. Then on to the tactical, pursuit and containment training where everything is via radio..

 

[badj]

That, in a nutshell, is the issue. How do you punish the idiots without also punishing the rest?

Have a public competition, where amateur footage can be used to prosecute. Reward those capturing people driving dangerously/erratically whilst on their phone with the full amount the driver is fined

Kind of like crowd-policing

I'm sure people would stop if they thought that they could be punished at any given moment by anyone

 

[Red C220]

On Fridays cycle home I repeatedly passed a chap on his laptop while driving.

The use of handsets is endemic in South London

This is the root of my personal point of view that I believe supports banning the use of mobile devices in a car (by the driver at least).

It's socially acceptable, what I mean by that is it's not seen a "real crime" it's "Not really doing any harm" because "well everyone does it at some point don't they"

That's when the public unfortunately has the powers of trust and reason removed from them when it comes to this particular problem. The majority have to be governed in this case due to the "minority" becoming so significant that it has to be addressed.

 

[Carrsey]

What's your take on all this ?

Maybe some wise words from you may educate others here and stop so much drivel that arrives on our screens from the overeducated ones on here.

Use of the phone is a distraction and does cause collisions. It is a number of years since anyone claimed to me they didn't know it was illegal. So they are willing to take the risk. I would go for a blanket ban with stiffer penalties, mainly because I can not think of any situation where a call or text is that important it can not wait until you can pull up and return the call.

Whilst for day to day patrol it would almost be impossible to police hands free use I have mentioned before that if you are involved in a serious / fatal collision phone records will be checked and any use found will go down as a contributory factor..

End of the day if you use your phone whilst driving you have made a conscious decision to do so, you haven't done it by accident so much stiffer penalties then those who continue can be removed from the roads a little sooner..

 

[st13phil]

Ahem.

I made the point in my original post that the problem (imo) is not the size of the sanction to be applied, but that the chances of being caught are vanishingly small.

How, exactly, would banning the use of all communication devices - whether hand held or not - make one jot of difference?

 

[Red C220]

Ahem.

I made the point in my original post that the problem (imo) is not the size of the sanction to be applied, but that the chances of being caught are vanishingly small.

How, exactly, would banning the use of all communication devices - whether hand held or not - make one jot of difference?

I feel it makes it far more cut and dry, in the same way that drink driving is completely unambiguous.

It makes people think twice and as a result I believe it would reduce the incidence.

Also I think if it was clearly proved a mobile device had been in used during an accident then the penalties could be harsher, which in turn would discourage their use.

 

[KennyN]

Of course the conversation is more distracting !

Than what , talking to a passenger. If a person cant talk and drive then they shouldn't be driving.

Not sure what kit you're using ??

The standard Bluetooth one built into the NTG2.5 which works fine when the Linguatronic lady understands weegie , when she doesn't then I have to resort to scrolling through the contacts list in the centre of the speedo.

Kenny

 

[Druk]

The standard Bluetooth one built into the NTG2.5 which works fine when the Linguatronic lady understands weegie , when she doesn't then I have to resort to scrolling through the contacts list in the centre of the speedo.

Not only does she not understand Weegie, she doesn't get Edinburgers either. How refined does one need to be one asks?

 

[flango]

Very strange, in all the training I have done I had to give commentary and if I could not or it affected my driving I would not pass.. Yes the commentary was sometimes to the instructor sat next to you however often (mainly pursuit training) the instructor in the subject vehicle acted as your control room and you communicated via the radio.. Then on to the tactical, pursuit and containment training where everything is via radio..

I'm not talking pursuit training that's different training all together as not all class1 drivers are pursuit or TPAC trained. I'm talking about the course you take to become a traffic or RCU driver. At no point is radio commentary used in that training it's all to the instructor next to you and yes if it affects your driving then you fail. Pursuit training and TPAC is done mostly over the radio but that training comes later as you build experience in car control. Also for these sort of stops it is preferable to use double crewed cars but I agree this is not always possible. Again Its preferable that the ground commander car should be double crewed so the driver can do the driving and his passenger the commentary.

 

[Red C220]

Four pages in and this has remained a pretty reasonable debate, which is refreshing.

 

[Carrsey]

How, exactly, would banning the use of all communication devices - whether hand held or not - make one jot of difference?

I did a girl a short while ago,
Told her I had stopped her because she was using her mobile phone, to which she replied, No I wasn't, I was just updating facebook, I would never use my phone whilst driving.

Some people still believe using a phone is only if your making a call.

I have also had them holding the phone out in front of them with it on speaker, because it is on speaker they believe it is ok..

So as Red said, make it clear cut..

 

[Charles Morgan]

Not only does she not understand Weegie, she doesn't get Edinburgers either. How refined does one need to be one asks?

Cockerney?