The danger of mobile phones

[Beetnik]

Prompted by recent threads about the use of hand held mobile phones - here's a link to some research comparing the use of a hand held phone to alcohol impairment done a few years ago:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/think_media/241042/241120/02-mobilephonereport-directline

It makes interesting reading for anyone who wants to delve further into the subject but for those with not a lot of time here's a key paragraph:

Using a hand-held mobile phone had the greatest impact on driving performance. On average it took hand-held mobile phone users half a second longer to react than normal, and a third of a second longer to react compared to when they were drunk. At 70 mph, this half-second difference is equivalent to travelling an additional 46 feet (14m) before reacting to a hazard on the road.​

 

[stevesey]

They also report that hands free phone usage has a greater impact that alcohol - showing it's the fact that the mind isn't fully focused on the road that is the major factor, not holding the phone. And on a similar note passengers will shut up and allow the driver to concentrate on the road if a difficult/hazardous situation arises - the person on the other end of the phone had no idea what's going on and does not moderate the conversation appropriately.

 

[Baron_Samedi]

How many people get fined for using a phone?

 

[verytalldave]

post deleted​

 

[kwakdonut]

How many people get fined for using a phone?

Not enough - think there are plenty of threads about this on here....

 

[NewMB]

How many people get fined for using a phone?

Plenty around Colchester.

The coppers like to stop just by our office drive entrance and call/wave people in. I have once counted the number of stopped cars and it came to about 1 car per minute who were all talking on the phone!

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Cool!

Maybe them guys need to be transferred to Wiltshire.

Perhaps the revenue they generate will reduce the amount of Council Charge devoted to running the police force