Safe Speed Forums

This is heading towards Shakespeare’s “nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so”. The fact that it is illegal aside, it’s almost subjective. A bit like porn; I can’t define it but I’d know it if I saw it, kinda thing.

There are going to be occasions where there could be a better time, place and circumstance where it is safer than at other times, (my thing about being completely stopped on a motorway for instance). But is it generally necessary and what are the advantages verses disadvantages? This is something I sometimes do when I’m wrestling with a choice...

Disadvantages: -

1) I could drop it for a start, (which I have done long ago, before the introduction of the law). This is most definitely a dangerous distraction/situation.
2) It can blinker my vision. (I discovered how bad this was when I got new French-style specs with wide sides. I’ve since gone back to an older type with thin side bars). I’ve followed guys in lane 1 of the motorway who are completely oblivious to me right next to him in lane 2.
3) Is it a need or a want? I’m sure whatever or whoever it is, it could wait until you pull over. To repeat what teabelly said again, you really shouldn’t be driving if you get that ‘black’ type of call anyway.
4) It takes your eyes off the road, if only to look at who it is and press the answer function. Then, as is the case, looking to check you have ended the call properly. Also, when the signal is poor the lack of communication is a risky distraction as yet again you look to see if you’re still connected. “Hello.. hello! Can you hear me? Are you still there?”. (Come on now, we’ve all been there).

Advantage: -

The only one I can honestly think of is it satisfies my curiosity there-and-then. Anyone got another or better one?

So, for me at least, the case for using a non hands-free mob while driving just hasn’t been made. As I’ve said, I stopped using one long before the ban because I decided it was not conductive to good driving. It’s not so different to, for example, wearing sunglasses on an overcast day or after sun-down just to look like Mr cool. I’m not going to do it even though I could because my driving is more important.

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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.

Just wondering, Weepej, what your attitude is to people who smoke or eat an apple whilst driving?

Why not ban screaming kids from supermarkets?

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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.

That it's illegal (failure to have proper control of vehicle) and they should be prosecuted for it.

I watched a lady once, I was travelling behind her on my bike, she had an open topped car, she leant down into the passenger footwell, rustled around in her bag, pulled out fags, went back for lighter (all the time correcting her path with a little input from her right hand as she looked up and realised she was going off course), then took both hands off the wheel to light the fag.





Eh, why? I bet you screamed in a shop when you were young!

BUT, In your opinion , if she'd been on a bike- and rustled around in her bag ,she's have been completely safe.

Same difference- on bike ,in car - failure to be in control of vehicle ( car /bike). Your point ,nes't pas.

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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

The thing is, you're unlikely to notice the ones whose driving is NOT being affected!

Everybody's driving is affected when they are eating or smoking.

Tell you what, I'll fiddle around in my bag on my 21lb bike at 15mph, mount the pavement and hit you, then I'll fiddle around with a bag in my one tonne car at 20mph, mount the pavement and hit you.


Which one would you prefer?

(before you answer this you might like to read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi ... athematica)

Neither, both cases are negligent and careless.

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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.

As usual ,faced with nothing better to reply with ...........................he gets on his three wheeler .

_________________
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

To the same extent? (Presumably, therefore, you could stand on a motorway bridge and spot every driver who was smoking, drinking, eating or using a mobile phone without even looking in the car)?

Forgive my scepticism...

Perhaps without making questions ( as is your wont) you may wish to break the habit of a lifetime and answer this one . Typical politician /troll answer -if you can't /wont give an answer ,ask a question .

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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

Did I say that?

No, not to the same extent, I'm sure sometimes some are better at it than others, but however careful they are or good they are at driving, they are still affecting their driving by eating or lighting a smoke/smoking behind the wheel.

Neither wasn't given as an option.

Sure, neither cyclists or car drivers should be looking down fiddling around in a bag whilst they should be concentrating on looking forward and piloting their vehicle, but I know which group I'd be targeting if I were the police, the one with greater potential for harm, and that's the people in heavy vehicles.

People driving LGVs/HGVs more so, coach drivers even more so, pilots of passenger planes, even more so, you seeing a pattern here?

Unless you think the punishment for flying a passenger plane or driving a car drunk should be the same for riding a bicycle drunk for instance, cos the judicial system certainly doesn't.

Slap on the wrist for a cyclist, prison for a pilot, a years ban and potential prison sentence for a driver.

So tell me again, is it the same difference?

Care to prove this theory ?
Or will this be yet another unanswered question .

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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

You haven't got to look far on the internet to see lots of studies citing that smoking is a major distraction and cause of crashes.

Or you could just use any common sense you might have to work out that the process of lighting, smoking and disposing of a cigarette whilst driving is a f*****g stupid thing to do.

AH -the internet -if it's on the net ,it must be true. You don't have to look far to see that the major panacea for road safety is a speed camera , but we all know better. I'd far sooner have a smoker with a fag in hand driving than some driver gasping for a fag ,and whose concentration is at an ebb from lack of nicotine. Obviously you have never smoked, so you will not realise how the pangs affect driving concentration .
I've held a licence for 47 years now and been off the weed for about ten ,so that makes it 37 years smoking and driving. In that time I covered at a rough guess around 2million miles on single track / DC/Motorway in this country ,in all weathers and dirt track /bush roads abroad .Accident total - three -all rear end shunts. So perhaps I was just lucky, or did I do what a lot of others do and light up at time of minimum risk . Get real and stop spouting like some Yellowstone geyser .(at random) when all you do is speculate. .

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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

You could say that about changing gear too...

...or changing channel on the radio.

Yet observance of the latest 'dumb' limit and incessant observance of the 'dumb' speedometer takes presidence over real safety? Can you not see the hypocrisy in your argument here?

I'm actually siding with you on the 'as little distraction as possible'. Not sure where you stand on this one though. Looks to me like you're saying 'all distractions are equal but some distractions are more equal than others"...?

You dare to use the term "common sense". With respect, I think you should look that up in the OED and think about, (wait for it), conditions, circumstances, driver ability/age/sobriety.... Political agenda! (Surely not).

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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.

_________________
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