Safe Speed Forums

I did pose this on PH as question for Bib . And it created a lot of activity.

And "USING!"another minefield .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

So, where is the mention of all the stuff about sitting at the side of the road with the engine off? What is the definition of "driving" let alone "using" the hand held device.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

OK then guys, how about this:

I have a small hand-held memo taker that I occasionally use while driving. This is for recording details of routes, roads and points of interest like suitable wild camping spots for future holidays in our motorhome. This device is voice activated, so it starts recording when I start speaking to it. Now obviously it isn't a mobile phone, but does it amount to a 'forbidden device' in the context of the driving/mobile phone law?

In a sense, both transmitting and receiving functions are being operated. I speak to it, so that's me transmitting to it, and it records my speech, so it receives in order to do that. Then, of course, it has a playback function, in which case it (in a sense) is transmitting and I, by listening, am receiving.

Am I guilty of an offence by using this hand-held device in that way?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

I don't believe so - any more than if you listened to an MP3 of yourself talking on the radio it would be "transmitting" to you. I think ""transmitting and receiving" in this context, means sending an electrical signal containing voice or data between the car and somewhere outside of the car. When I talk to someone, nobody thinks of it as me "transmitting" my voice.

I put mine on silent and leave it in a pocket. Then it doesn't matter what messages or calls I miss until I get where I'm going. I can deal with them later. No call is that important. If it is that important it's the kind of call you shouldn't answer when driving anyway!

A very small proportion of collisions are attributed to speeding. The most common cause is said to be inattention by drivers or other road users. Perversely, a huge amount of resource is dedicated to detection of speed over a posted limit while very little is done to address poor observation and distraction.

I can't see any problem with restricting the distractions which can occur while driving to attempt to improve safety. However, I imagine that, like speed enforcement, it will be very difficult to prove if it makes any significant difference.

We thus get back to the underlying point that the vast majority of drivers do so safely and having regard to road conditions. We are at the point where incremental improvments are so minute that it is of little use to legislate further.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Going on all of the threads on PH and other sites it seems to be down to what the officer thinks you were doing. It is such an awkward piece of legislation that I doubt any average person can really be sure what is legal.

It probably comes down to the usual method, take a good look around and make sure there is no one to see you 'using' it.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

That's all I ever said, or meant to say, on the matter!

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

I recall Jimmy Carr was prosecuted for using such a device, but got off.

I think they charged him with the wrong thing though so it was a technicality more than the police deciding he wasn't in proper control of the vehicle.

Sorry if I came over as rude, Dave, I didn't mean to; but it is my pet hate above all others and not just when driving. I keep one in the car for emergencies and am still on my first £10 of credit!

One wonders how the world managed before the bloody things were invented?

Mine too, if you've ever just walked behind somebody who's on one, been in the supermarket whilst the person in front tries to pack their shopping whilst talking on one, or stood behind somebody trying to get cash out of cash machine whilst they've got the phone to their ear.

Some are better at it than others, but pretty much, they're all seriously compromised in doing what they supposed to be doing.

And there are people that think they can drive a car and use a mobile phone at the same time...

And not to leave out our two wheeled friends, some think it's ok to text with both hands and cycle . Give them a toot to make them aware of your presence and you will get two fingers rampant.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Yup, there are people who act like idiots in and on all forms of transport out there botach.

You toot and them and get abuse and you're surprised?

9 out of 10 drivers I challenge for using a mobile phone whilst driving get very very angry, my stars they dish out some abuse, really nasty stuff, and sometimes they threaten to kill me.

So you're surprise you get two fingers you get abuse when you hoot some twat on a cycle who's using a mobile phone (which is not actually illegal)?

If you're going to cite totally irrelevant examples, you may as well also say that you've never seen anybody make a decent job of playing Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu whilst holding a mobile phone too...

They're not irrelevant though are they. It's clear somebody using a mobile phone is seriously distracted from whatever they're doing, whether it's simply walking, using a cash machine, checking out at a supermarket, driving, cycling, or playing Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu.

You could say exactly the same about a mum on the school run (or around the supermarket) with three screaming kids. What do you do, ban screaming kids?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

No you couldn't!

Sorry, but I've temporarily lost the point because I would vote for a ban on kids screaming. It's unpleasant and only a devoted mother would listen to it like I listen to The Blue Danube.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Not illegal , but only a candidate for a Darwin award will do it. I said TEXTING, not using .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

No. I've seen lots of people walking and talking (I've done it myself, in fact) and the vast majority of the ones I've seen make a pretty reasonable job of it! Certainly I've never walked under any buses whilst talking on a mobile! As for the other activities, packing shopping is rather like playing the piano - it's a 2-handed job!!! Of course someone holding a phone is going to struggle! Similarly (depending on where you keep your card), using a cashpoint is a 2 handed job too. If this is about not having enough hands to do the job, why don't emergency services vehicle drivers, CB-using truckers, taxi drivers and Top Gear presenters keep crashing when they use their 2-way radios? Come to that, why to the DVLA still allow one-handed disabled people to have driving licences?