Driving while talking on the the phone or texting

Owenw

You know what really grinds my gears... there's hardly a day that goes by without a piece on the radio or in the papers about the dangers of using your phone while driving and yet you see more and more people gabbing into their phones while attempting to corner using one hand or weaving all over the road while texting, barely aware of what's happening around them.

Is there anything we can do to "encourage" people to cop themselves on? Should I just leave it to the Guards to sort 'em out, or hope when they receive their 'Darwin Award' they don't take innocent bystanders out with them?

Some days I really feel like going up to the offender at the traffic lights, grabbing his or her phone and smashing it off the road.

Maybe the guards should be allowed to confiscate phones on the spot and issue a fine or dole out a 2 week driving ban?

Rant over.

Lord Nikon

Guilty...

FYI, some disabled drivers with only one arm are allowed to drive a car. Go figure.

Volvoboy

I just got a Parrot Bluetooth car kit fitted and it really is the bee's bollox.

Even has voice commands so you press one button say the name and it dials:pac:

However, i also have a i-pod connected to the radio and have a habit of flicking through songs when i'm driving.:o

Danbo!

Nice intro to your post. Probably wont go down too well on a motors forum, but I cycle to work and i get this a lot, cars drifting towards the kerb while the driver is chatting away. A quick knock on their window usually gives them an awful fright because theyre not concentrating. Its definitely frustrating, and very dangerous, and when you see people texting :mad:

About the garda tho, ive seen them numerous times using their phones while driving too.

Fizman

Today on the M7 I was overtaken by this one in her black astra texting away, looked like she was driving with her elbows!! ( i was going bout 125kmh - so she must have been 135-140)).

Her driving line was pretty bad too (as one would expect). Seriously pisses me off seeing this all the time!

mikemac

I see plently of students tapping away at their phones as they cycle along. I don't know how they do it, far better balance then me.

+1 for tap on the window, it gives them a shock as they aren't concentrating on what is happening around them

Why do people spend 30k plus on a car but not a hands-free kit? All groups of motorists are guilty but why do businessmen or salesmen in lovely,new cars do it? No excuse.
Better include the white van man too!

Redpunto

neuromancer wrote: »

Guilty...

FYI, some disabled drivers with only one arm are allowed to drive a car. Go figure.

Yeh, coz someone with one arm is completely comparable to someone texting and looking down at their phone every 2 seconds:D

biko

Garda could set up a report number. You just report a offenders car reg number and they can check where the offender were at a particular time by checking with mobile masts.
But how do you report them unless you use your own phone? Or just wait till your parked...

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that drivers who used mobile phones while driving were four times more likely to crash than those not, a rate equal to that for drunken driving.

peasant

I was stuck behind a guy once, veering and swaying all over a narrow road because he was on the phone and taking notes at the same time while driving

When I beeped the horn, he made gestures, pointing at his phone, complaining that I was interrupting his important conversation.

So I stood on it ...the horn I mean :D:D

Wishbone Ash

peasant wrote: »

he was on the phone and taking notes at the same time while driving

I'll raise you one!

I spotted white van man last week negotiating the turn from Dame Street into Trinity Street (Dublin) while using a hand held mobile, taking notes and holding a smoking pipe!

Danbo!

biko wrote: »

Garda could set up a report number. You just report a offenders car reg number and they can check where the offender were at a particular time by checking with mobile masts.
But how do you report them unless you use your own phone? Or just wait till your parked...

Traffic Watch: 1890205805 - But that can be more hassle than its worth, and Im not sure if they can knock on someones door and say "some bloke saw you on your phone there last week. Here, have some penalty points"

And if you do pull over to make the call stay off the cycle track, yeah?!;)

Also +1 on the handsfree, most stereos have it these days, the one i have you just leave the phone in your pocket and press in the volume button to answer, without even taking your eyes off the road.

Lord Nikon

Redpunto wrote: »

Yeh, coz someone with one arm is completely comparable to someone texting and looking down at their phone every 2 seconds:D

the OP post again, "people gabbing into their phones while attempting to corner using one hand", this is what I was commenting about.

Lord Nikon

noblestee wrote: »

and Im not sure if they can knock on someones door and say "some bloke saw you on your phone there last week. Here, have some penalty points"
d.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

sgt.bilko

neuromancer wrote: »

Guilty...

FYI, some disabled drivers with only one arm are allowed to drive a car. Go figure.

I'm sure that the car is adapted for their needs :rolleyes:

Run_to_da_hills

If the cops had the authority to smash your mobile phone with a hammer on the side of the road it would soon stop offenders. Cops are doing this already to repeat "boom car" offenders in the States

Lord Nikon

Yeah, but the states has lots of stupid rules, this being one of them.

Run_to_da_hills

neuromancer wrote: »

Yeah, but the states has lots of stupid rules, this being one of them.

If it keeps boy racers from having their sound systems heard two blocks away I cannot see anything wrong with it. Have you ever been to the states and heard these guys driving around with these sound systems? Some of them are 140DB+

Nightwish

neuromancer wrote: »

FYI, some disabled drivers with only one arm are allowed to drive a car. Go figure.

The girl I live with only has the use of 1 arm, but her car is adapted so that her foot controls indicators etc, and which she uses. Not like the complete idiot that nearly ran me off a roundabout today because they nearly missed their exit while engrossed in conversation on their phone and swerved in front of me without indicating.

ART6

Just about all research to date says that using a mobile while driving is dangerous and distracting, and that even hands free is to some extent. Even so, does anyone ever drive anywhere without seeing some dipstick holding a mobile to their ear in spite of the law? The only way of dealing with it is for the Guards to nail them regularly, but we are going to cover the country in speed cameras so that the Garda Traffic Corps can sit indoors and watch TV. Still, looking on the bright side, the cameras will help to ensure that the mobile users do so at lower speeds;)

mikemac

I remember some national paper put a photographer on the Naas Rd in Dublin.
They got photos of lads chatting on mobiles and even a women applying makeup and adjusting the rear view mirror.

These were put on the front page and a few unlucky souls got shamed
Maybe it's time to do this again, it was over a year ago anyway and possibly two

G-Money

This is another pet peeve of mine. It's massively annoying to see some bimbo driving along in her mini cooper or Land Rover who's more interested in the conversation she's having than of not killing someone on the road. The same goes for the male drivers in Mercs and BMW's, they seem to commit this crime more than any others.

Oh but I forgot. The speed limits don't apply to BMW or Merc drivers and I guess the other rules of the road don't apply either. I guess that's why those cars are so expensive, you pay for the privilege of not having to stick to the law

NiSmO

This post has been deleted.

peasant

He's right, don't click if you're in any way sensitive, link contains very gruesome accident pictures

I.S.T.

noblestee wrote: »

About the garda tho, ive seen them numerous times using their phones while driving too.

They are allowed

TwoShedsJackson

If you hold a phone to your ear or text while driving you're a twat, plain and simple. Unfortunately there a lot of twats out there..

WHITE_P

I work for one of the mobile operators and it really p!sses me off when I see people talking / texting while driving. All our company cars are fitted with handsfree before they are assigned out to us.

Handsfree kits may not be the ultimate answer but it is better than someone holding the phone while driving, personally I find the Parrot products very good and very reasonable price wise, not to mention easy to install.

I think the fines for using a mobile while driving should be calculated as a percentage of the value of the car being driven, say 10%, (VRT calculator could be used), this would make it more expensive for those who drive more expensive cars and could easily afford any car kit.

If you can afford to drive a car in this country you CAN afford a handsfree kit / earpiece.

CrowdedHouse

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

They are allowed

Yes,but they could give a good example to others

Lord Nikon

grandmaster wrote: »

The same goes for the male drivers in Mercs and BMW's, they seem to commit this crime more than any others.

I would like to see where you got this information...

grandmaster wrote: »

The speed limits don't apply to BMW or Merc drivers and I guess the other rules of the road don't apply either. I guess that's why those cars are so expensive, you pay for the privilege of not having to stick to the law

Eh, the speed limit applies to all drivers not just of certain brands of motors. FYI not all Mercs and BMW's are expensive.

Actually, looking at some of your previous posts, looks like you have a problem with Merc/BM drivers in general.

WHITE_P

Passed traffic stopped at temporary lights on the Navan to Trim road earlier, of the 8 to 10 cars stopped all the women drivers, including the L driver at the front of the que, were either talking on their mobiles or texting.

I would definitly say mobile phone use is a bigger problem on the roads than speeding or drink driving, however it is not seen as politically incorrect to do so yet.

Lord Nikon

I'm not defending texting while driving, or speeding either, but people are sometimes under the impression that texting and speeding are a main reason for accidents and deaths on our roads. Yes it is bad to do these things, but there is no hard evidence to show that they are the main contributors to road casualties and fatalities.

Slig

If you are driving then you should be concentrating on the road. simple as that!!! anything that provides a distraction is bad be it radio, mobile phone, screaming kids, couple of pints etc.
At the end of the day it is up to the driver to dictate how they drive or who they put at risk be it family in the back seats or complete strangers in the car in front.
Saying that the Guards should look after it is complete rubbish as they wont.
People take driving too lightly as if its only other people that crash

WHITE_P

Slig wrote: »

If you are driving then you should be concentrating on the road. simple as that!!! anything that provides a distraction is bad be it radio, mobile phone, screaming kids, couple of pints etc.
At the end of the day it is up to the driver to dictate how they drive or who they put at risk be it family in the back seats or complete strangers in the car in front.
Saying that the Guards should look after it is complete rubbish as they wont.
People take driving too lightly as if its only other people that crash

+1

Owenw

Some interesting replies. I like the idea of the police smashing phones and excessively loud sound systems

On my way home this woman, mid 40's, in a Range Rover was behind me. I turned into my road and she did too. I glanced in the mirror and copped she was on the phone, so I decided to stop and have a little chat.

I kept my cool and said: "Would you mind not talking on your phone while driving behind me in a 2 ton vehicle?"

Her reply: "You should be watching the road instead of looking at me in the mirror." :rolleyes:

My parting shot: "I'm fully aware of the road ahead. Using the phone while
driving is dangerous, as you well know." (Bit weak, I know.)

Dirty looks were exchanged while I slowly turned to walk back to my car. She stayed well behind after that, so I don't if she went straight back to her call or not.

Oh, and for the record I'm a male driver, student, with a not-too-expensive BMW and no I don't drive while using the phone.

masterwriter

Nightwish wrote: »

but her car is adapted so that her foot controls indicators etc,

How does it work, are they beside the accellerator? Just curious

masterwriter

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

They are allowed

They [garda]are not alllowed to text are they? They do

um7y1h83ge06nx

I got a Lidl Silvercrest Car Stereo a few months ago, €100 with a bluetooth car kit integrated with the stereo.

Very good I must say, I use it an awful lot.

Some peoples stupidity when it comes to road safety is astounding. My phrase when it comes to road safety is "Who gives a f**k about the guards". What I mean by that is for some people the only deterrant to drink driving, speeding, mobile phone use is the Gardai. They seem absolutely not concerned with the greater consequences, death, serious permanent injury etc. Getting a fine and a few points is small stuff in comparision.

One example is I was out a few weeks ago in a country town in Cork with 3 others. The girlfriend and I left before nightclub time. I was tipsy and so were the two lads that stayed on. They drank more in the nightclub and then went back to one of their houses. The other guy got the great idea to get into his car and drink 10 miles home along relatively poor country roads.

The next day he said it was grand, there was no guards around, never realised at all the other far more serious possible consequences.

Anyway rant over I guess.

dar1

Pc Claire Van Deurs Goss, On Channel 4s 999 what's your emergency, putting on lip gloss while driving and talking to the Camera. Yet it's illegal for us to talk on a hands free mobile phone. Is any else sick of this type of bull****.

colm_mcm

I'm sick of people digging up old threads