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PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 18:31 
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Hi everyone,

Stiffers fines are not preventing people using their mobile phone while driving. I feel drivers need to be educated about the dangers mobile phones cause. What do people think of defensive driving classes? Here is a link to what they provide: http://www.drivingriskmanagement.co.uk/ ... evelopment Do you think these courses would be more beneficial that simply giving culprits a fine?


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 19:02 
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police should have the power to seize mobile phones from motorist and apply to the courts for destruction... it is a totally despicable offence :x


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 21:48 
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Bit excessive. I agree it is risky behaviour but destroying people's phones? I would have said despite the number of people I see using phones, that accidents involving mobiles have dropped dramatically since the ban was introduced and I would have said it was having an impact. I do text if stuck in traffic/at the lights and have a hands free for calls but never really use it. Partly as I mainly ride a bike but even in the car, even with a headset, for some reason holding a phone conversation is far more distracting than, say, chatting away to a passenger. I have no idea why, as on the face of it at least, I would have said they required the same amount of attention. However in my experience even with a handsfree holding a phone conversation while driving is inadvisable.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 21:50 
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Billyboyz wrote:
police should have the power to seize mobile phones from motorist and apply to the courts for destruction... it is a totally despicable offence :x

PArallel this to cyclists on the footpath /disregarding red lights - perhaps motorists should campaign for these kami kazi law defying road users to have their modes of transport impounded in the first case for a period of time an on second offence destroyed . Parallel this to a pedestrian causing an accident by wandering off the pavement "under the influence of a mobile call " - let's have similar penalties ,and a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD ..

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 22:51 
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What do people think of defensive driving classes? Here is a link to what they provide: http://www.drivingriskmanagement.co.uk/ ... evelopment Do you think these courses would be more beneficial that simply giving culprits a fine?


I don't think that anyone can deny that defensive driving courses would benefit the vast majority of drivers, whether they've been found guilty of a motoring offense or not and certainly more likely to do some good towards road safety than a fine.

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 23:23 
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Billyboyz wrote:
police should have the power to seize mobile phones from motorist and apply to the courts for destruction... it is a totally despicable offence :x


I've been away a while but it appears that the site has developed something of a troll problem.

Harsher penalties don't work because many people don't consider the ban to be credible.

I hold the opinion that if you are incapable of texting whilst driving then you probably shouldn't be allowed to drive in the first place.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 17:45 
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S if you are killed, or someone else is killed by you, while texting/phoning, it can safely be held that you are not capable of driving anyway ?
Maybe I can suggest an alternative: fit the mobile phone with barbs and insert it into a body orifice ? :shock:

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 20:21 
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Along with this I am seeing an increase of parking plonkers ,whose incoming calls are that important that they feel the need to answer them ,so they stop, switch off engine ( and brain) .Result they cause as much danger as those on the phone ,on the move .
Perhaps we need another knee jerk reaction ,by those of us seeing the danger of this to the saner road users ( cyclists and pedestrians included),but since these idiots are not actually driving there's little chance of anything getting done .

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 06:08 
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:welcome: DavidGoddard
DavidGoddard wrote:
Hi everyone,
Stiffers fines are not preventing people using their mobile phone while driving. I feel drivers need to be educated about the dangers mobile phones cause. What do people think of defensive driving classes? Here is a link to what they provide: http://www.drivingriskmanagement.co.uk/ ... evelopment Do you think these courses would be more beneficial that simply giving culprits a fine?
Defensive driving taught well can provide many benefits to all motorists.
What 'cause' do you think is attributed and proved to mobile phone use? From some research in simulators how well do you think that relates to the real world environment ? Responsible attitudes can be helped with greater knowledge, ability and skills as well as a greater interest in the subject - namely driving in this instance.
By all means have Ken Bowling or whoever is appropriate to contact me, and if they wish for me to try their course I'd happily give you my opinion as to how good it was after a good days outing. :)

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 14:06 
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jomukuk wrote:
S if you are killed, or someone else is killed by you, while texting/phoning, it can safely be held that you are not capable of driving anyway ?
Maybe I can suggest an alternative: fit the mobile phone with barbs and insert it into a body orifice ? :shock:

I hope you mean CE's? :twisted:


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 00:27 
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jomukuk wrote:
S if you are killed, or someone else is killed by you, while texting/phoning, it can safely be held that you are not capable of driving anyway ?
Maybe I can suggest an alternative: fit the mobile phone with barbs and insert it into a body orifice ? :shock:


Lost me here :scratchchin:


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 00:34 
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civil engineer wrote:
Billyboyz wrote:
police should have the power to seize mobile phones from motorist and apply to the courts for destruction... it is a totally despicable offence :x


I've been away a while but it appears that the site has developed something of a troll problem.

Harsher penalties don't work because many people don't consider the ban to be credible.

I hold the opinion that if you are incapable of texting whilst driving then you probably shouldn't be allowed to drive in the first place.



Well I'm with billyboyz on this one. The other day a transit van coming towards me was wobbling towards the while line enough for me to look closer. Three workmen in the front. The driver had his head down concentrating on his mobile in his right hand whilst his fag was in his left.

A moron no less.

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 00:53 
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Was the standard of driving due to the phone or the driver?

He was clearly incapable of texting and driving....or indeed smoking.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 01:00 
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civil engineer wrote:
Was the standard of driving due to the phone or the driver?

He was clearly incapable of texting and driving....or indeed smoking.


Due to the driver because he was using his phone and snoking.

Even handsfree is very distracting whilst driving - never mind tying up a hand with a phone, and eyes when texting.

What is it about mobiles that make them impossible to ignore?

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 01:05 
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Due to the driver because he chose to do things that took him beyond his capacity to safely operate the vehicle.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 01:24 
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From your description it sounds bad and certainly sounds like he need to be pulled over, and perhaps done for driving without due care and attention at least !

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:24 
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The difficulty is that every driver thinks every other driver is the bad driver. In fact no driver ever thinks he or she is terrible or dangerous and it's never their fault or responsibility for a RTA. Yet someone is responsible for all the RTA’s so I guess God reserves his dice-playing solely for the motorist.

This thread is clearly too close to another, (maybe I’m being bated by...?). :nono:

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:30 
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This thread has the wrong premise. Larger fines will not prevent people using mobiles if the chances of getting caught are vanishingly small.

We have discussed this subject at length on here before covering the lack of evidence that using a mobile actually results in accidents. You probably remember that I am totally against any distractions while driving but I await the evidence to support my prejudices.

What I think happens (using the scenario of the Transit van above) is that a driver is distracted causing the erratic driving reported. Once the driver notices in their peripheral vision that they are drifting too far out of line they correct it before any accident occurs. This produces the behaviour we all witness and feel is bad but does not actually cause a collision.

You would think that texting is much more distracting than a voice call as it involves protracted looking at the phone (and not the road) and ties up the hands. How about a £250 fine for texting and keeping the £60 for phone calls?

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 14:09 
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The sanction is irrelevant it's the enforcement that drives behaviour.

The mobile phone ban is arbitrary and I don't believe it has any impact on road safety which must ultimately be measurable by KSI stats.

We have laws for dangerous driving, careless driving etc etc. Enforce those laws, if texting causes your driving bring you within the realms of one of those laws then prosecute, if not don't.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 15:09 
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What are the biggest cause of accidents? Inattention & distraction. Mobile phones cause distraction and inattention. Ergo using them can't be helpful to the safest driving....

There's a scientific effect about people being unaware of their own failings. Can't remember what it is called. If you are unaware of how well something can be done you aren't aware of how badly you do it.

Unless you have external assessment to prove you are capable of driving safely using a mobile then you should assume you can't do it and shouldn't. Just because something hasn't happened doesn't it mean you didn't miss something but you were distracted with a phone call so you could have been unaware you had even missed it!

I wouldn't want it on my conscience.


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