Mobile phones while driving

The Royal Scam

I am finding it very worrying the amount of people still using their mobile while driving for talking and texting. I wonder is it just me but everyday the amount of blatant use of it is shocking and surely must be linked directly to traffic accident statistics at this stage.
I drive an average of 80k a year so see a lot of things on the road but in the last couple of months it seems to be just the norm now. Obviously with little enforcement and subsequent fines people feel it is ok.
For instance to give a rough example yesterday I had to drive from Carlow to Dublin.
approx 5 people on the motorway on the way up in the morning , quite obviously browsing or on social media , some travelling at 100kph others over the speed limit.
Around Dublin , at least 1 in 5 people sometimes more driving towards me quite obviosly distracted by their phone in hand or lap.
Easily 50% of everyone waiting in traffic are on their phone.
Again on the way home , a crazy amount of people again on the motorway with lit up white faces looking at their phones while driving as it is quite obvious in the dark.
Is it just me or is everybody seeing this kind of behaviour?

Slippin Jimmy

The Royal Scam wrote: »

I am finding it very worrying the amount of people still using their mobile while driving for talking and texting. I wonder is it just me but everyday the amount of blatant use of it is shocking and surely must be linked directly to traffic accident statistics at this stage.
I drive an average of 80k a year so see a lot of things on the road but in the last couple of months it seems to be just the norm now. Obviously with little enforcement and subsequent fines people feel it is ok.
For instance to give a rough example yesterday I had to drive from Carlow to Dublin.
approx 5 people on the motorway on the way up in the morning , quite obviously browsing or on social media , some travelling at 100kph others over the speed limit.
Around Dublin , at least 1 in 5 people sometimes more driving towards me quite obviosly distracted by their phone in hand or lap.
Easily 50% of everyone waiting in traffic are on their phone.
Again on the way home , a crazy amount of people again on the motorway with lit up white faces looking at their phones while driving as it is quite obvious in the dark.
Is it just me or is everybody seeing this kind of behaviour?

There is absolutely no excuse for it. The thing that really annoys me is people that have newer cars that more than likely has bluetooth built-in and they still choose to hold the phone to talk when driving.

Sure you can pick up a Bluetooth headset pretty cheap now. Texting and social media when driving is just asking for trouble.

Cee-Jay-Cee

It seems to be the same all over and in my personal experience younger women/girls are the worst offenders by a long shot.

The Gardai need more unmarked cars if they want to enforce the laws, marked patrol cars stand out and once spotted the person drops the phone so it’s difficult for them to be caught.

tuisginideach

Not just younger women/girls (but plentu of them admittedly0 - I have seen truck drivers and private bus drivers on phones while driving.

All the other drivers see them but there's never a Garda to be seen anyway!

mojesius

Very obvious to spot them in slow moving traffic, they take a year to react to light changes/moving traffic.

run_Forrest_run

mojesius wrote: »

Very obvious to spot them in slow moving traffic, they take a year to react to light changes/moving traffic.

exactly, and the head is tilted down.

GBX

Bluetooth is available but I would imagine nowadays there is a huge portion of people driving so caught up in social media that a bluetooth receiver is of no benefit to them. They continue to check their Facebook etc even when after sitting in slow moving traffic it gathers a bit of pace and they still think they are in control. I have seen it where somebody nearly rear ends because they had the head down and don't drop the phone they have convinced themselves that this is part of driving nowadays. Is it any wonder why there is so many crashes.

Atlantic Dawn

Saw a driver last week on her phone stopped at the lights, she was so distracted by her call that she didn't notice the Gardai were in the car next to her, mind you they didn't notice her on her phone.

RacoonQueen

Slippin Jimmy wrote: »

There is absolutely no excuse for it. The thing that really annoys me is people that have newer cars that more than likely has bluetooth built-in and they still choose to hold the phone to talk when driving.

Sure you can pick up a Bluetooth headset pretty cheap now. Texting and social media when driving is just asking for trouble.

Never understand the need for being stuck to your phone in the car. The longest drive in Ireland is probably about 5 hours...the longest gap between motorway exits probably, what? 5-10 mins? Not hard to wait until next junction, pull off, pull in safely and return a call.
My 151 (bought second hand) didn't have bluetooth...but bought a bluetooth unit for about 3 euro on wish...

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

It seems to be the same all over and in my personal experience younger women/girls are the worst offenders by a long shot.

Not sure I agree with any particular demograpic being the worst offenders...I don't think there are 'worst offenders' - younger people/newer drivers doing it is what baffles me the most. I've been driving about 12 years and in that time using your phone while driving has always been a no go - have just checked and the offence of holding a phone while driving came in in 2006. So yeah, pretty much my entire driving career I couldn't do it legally. So I don't. As the dangers have been well known. Those who built up a habit of it prior to 2006, can loosely understand them being more akin to using their phone while driving...anyone starting driving since then who uses their phone is just a total idiot. IMO.

Alun

I agree, there's no one single demographic that's the biggest offender, although "white van man" seems to be almost continually glued to his phone.

Atlantic Dawn

I think a meaningful puishment like a fine of 1% of gross salary or a month off the road would knock it on the head.

humberklog

There was a big drive about 3 years ago by the RSA using advertising in co-ordination with Gardai inforcement and it seemed to work somewhat. It lasted about 3 months.
In the last couple of years it's back to being as bad, if not worse, than before.

I'd say people browsing social media is a bigger culprit than talking on the phone.

Two of my big bugbears is people using the overtaking lane on quiet motorways as their "go to" lane for browsing wedding dresses on the internet. I think it's because the rational is is that there less chance of rear ending in that lane. Another motorway trick i see is people using the rumble strip between the breakdown lane and the left lane as a physical guide so they can browse mini diggers on Dondeal.
I make the difference here because I see more women doing the former and more men doing the latter.

Now that there's a big increase in construction activity almost every time I see a 20tonne tipper lorry the driver is leaning over the steering wheel bellowing down the phone as they negotiate their way between sites, around roundabouts, through busy junctions, through residential housing estates it doesn't matter to them.

But really it is across the board, male female young and old. Ignorance isn't a selective gene.

The authorities need to get back on the offensive in a big way. Probably keep the penalties as they are but enforce them rigorously for an extended period of time.

A thought of mine was that when someone is stopped for clearly using their phone the cops could have a pop up sign saying "Driver stopped for using phone while driving".
And every commercially taxed vehicle must have hands free phone set up.

dudara

It’s a huge problem at the moment. I drive against trfffic going to work at the moment, so I’m often passing long queues of stationery cars. Easily 20% could be on their phones, not paying attention to traffic lights etc

Out on the motorway, you’ll regularly see people taking a call, or even worse, head down clearly reading something on their screen. It’s insanity of the highest order.

I simply couldn’t pick up my phone while driving, I’m honest enough to admit that I couldn’t do it without putting myself at risk. It simply takes too much of your attention

EDiT: I’m actually surprised that there have even no reported deaths yet due to mobile phone use. Or it is perhaps the case that such detail isn’t reported. IMO it’s going to take a motorway pileup or something significantly serious to get enforcement attitudes to change.

El Horseboxo

It's bad enough being distracted with a phone glued to the ear and only 1 hand available for controls. But this social media crap and the constant need to check nonsense is much more dangerous as it's eyes off the road for long periods. No idea what's going on with the world that people can't leave their phones aside for a while when driving.

RacoonQueen

Smart watches cause a problem too. Mine starts vibrating before a call/sms comes through...really distracting...and hard to avoid checking when you know its an SMS that will display the content on watch face.

El Horseboxo

dudara wrote: »

EDiT: I’m actually surprised that there have even no reported deaths yet due to mobile phone use. Or it is perhaps the case that such detail isn’t reported. IMO it’s going to take a motorway pileup or something significantly serious to get enforcement attitudes to change.

Not the easiest to verify that phone use played a role. Even in a fatal car crash and the phone was found on the ground. It would be an assumption that it may have been in their hand or distracted them. In less serious crashes I imagine the driver wouldn't be voluntarily providing that information if they were using a phone. With calls it could be easier as there's a record. But that would only be consulted in certain circumstances.

dudara

El Horseboxo wrote: »

Not the easiest to verify that phone use played a role. Even in a fatal car crash and the phone was found on the ground. It would be an assumption that it may have been in their hand or distracted them. In less serious crashes I imagine the driver wouldn't be voluntarily providing that information if they were using a phone. With calls it could be easier as there's a record. But that would only be consulted in certain circumstances.

Agreed - I’d imagine that burden of proof would be required in such cases. Plus they’re may also be sensitivity to relatives & family of the deceased. But still, we need serious messages to be delivered in order to drive home the impact.

Henry Ford III

It's a major issue. Lack of even enforcement is another.

Bluetooth devices which allow hands free calls aren't expensive, and a reasonably skilled driver can both drive and talk without an increased safety risk imho.

Checking social media or texting whilst driving is an absolute no no however - it's potentially lethal.

my3cents

humberklog wrote: »

There was a big drive about 3 years ago by the RSA using advertising in co-ordination with Gardai inforcement and it seemed to work somewhat. It lasted about 3 months.
In the last couple of years it's back to being as bad, if not worse, than before.

....

There is always going to be a problem as long as the Gardai have to be told to do there job by way of coordinated campaigns.

Why cant the Gardai just do their job in the first place?

Sue Pa Key Pa

It's a huge problem. I never understand why you regularly see couriers on phones. These are professional drivers constantly needing to make calls about the next drop off etc. Get a handsfree FFS

Neamhshuntasach

I've had 3 people hit me from behind at junction 7 northbound in the past 18 months. First time I had noticed the person with their head down earlier while we were queuing to exit. Couldn't prove it was being used during the rear ending. But i imagine it was as there was zero need to hit me given how we were crawling and continuously stopping. The next day I got another cam for the rear. The next 2 rear endings clearly showed phone use. Like facebook or whatever. Wasn't a call.

The Rape of Lucretia

Not sure if it is enacted yet, but may be is in since assorted changes since Jan 1st : caught with a mobile phone in France is moving from points/fine to being a instant 3 month licence loss.
Interesting to see how it goes.

07Lapierre

By law, Once a phone is connected to a car bluetooth system, it should disable the phone screen and allow incoming/outgoing calls only.

AhHaor

what law is that now?

07Lapierre

AhHaor wrote: »

what law is that now?

There isn't one at the moment that im aware of, but I think there should be.

Henry Ford III

07Lapierre wrote: »

There isn't one at the moment that im aware of, but I think there should be.

Using a modern touchscreen and Android Auto would make that a waste of time.

Comhrá

It seems to be an offence neither the Gardai or the Govenrnment really take seriously.

I have regularly seen uniformed Gardai driving patrol cars steering with one hand with mobile phone held to their ear.

Now if Gardai are driving and using their phones, don't tell me they're somehow less of a danger than ordinary Mary or John.

It has been argued that they may be dealing with emergencies during the course of duty, but doesn't that make them even more of a danger to themselves and other road users? Trying to steer with one hand, while possibly dealing with urgent or important information/instructions over the phone and trying to concentrate on the road at the same time.

Phone usage while driving just isn't given enough priority by those in charge and thus we can't expect to see much change in this behaviour for the foreseeable future

Henry Ford III

Comhra wrote: »

It seems to be an offence neither the Gardai or the Govenrnment really take seriously.

I have regularly seen uniformed Gardai driving patrol cars steering with one hand with mobile phone held to their ear.

Now if Gardai are driving and using their phones, don't tell me they're somehow less of a danger than ordinary Mary or John.

It has been argued that they may be dealing with emergencies during the course of duty, but doesn't that make them even more of a danger to themselves and other road users? Trying to steer with one hand, while possibly dealing with urgent or important information/instructions over the phone and trying to concentrate on the road at the same time.

Phone usage while driving just isn't given enough priority by those in charge and thus we can't expect to see much change in this behaviour for the foreseeable future

Gardai are exempted. They must have super powers or something.

Comhrá

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Gardai are exempted. They must have super powers or something.

Indeed they are. What's the reasoning behind that exemption, I wonder?

Imagine if they were exempt from the legal drink/drive limits, or wearing safety belts while driving.

Del2005

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Gardai are exempted. They must have super powers or something.

Aren't they all driving on Super Letters, not super powers, or have they fixed that yet?

ED E

This issue has been solved by the Surrey RPU.

https://twitter.com/hashtag/optramline


Just need AGS to get their arses in gear. Seen them sitting directly behind texters while getting out on foot would nab five or six in a minute.

Alun

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Gardai are exempted. They must have super powers or something.

Yes, their ordinary mortal brains are removed when they go on their non-existent driver training and replaced with super-duper cyborg brains that operate on a different level to the rest of us mere mortals and also exempt them from the rules of physics the rest of us have to adhere to.

spurshero

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Saw a driver last week on her phone stopped at the lights, she was so distracted by her call that she didn't notice the Gardai were in the car next to her, mind you they didn't notice her on her phone.

All ya can do is laugh !!

whiskeyman

Slippin Jimmy wrote: »

There is absolutely no excuse for it. The thing that really annoys me is people that have newer cars that more than likely has bluetooth built-in and they still choose to hold the phone to talk when driving.

Sure you can pick up a Bluetooth headset pretty cheap now. Texting and social media when driving is just asking for trouble.

Henry Ford III wrote: »

It's a major issue. Lack of even enforcement is another.

Bluetooth devices which allow hands free calls aren't expensive, and a reasonably skilled driver can both drive and talk without an increased safety risk imho.

There's a huge body of research which pretty much proves being on a phone call using a handsfree / bluetooth device is every bit as dangerous as holding the phone during a call.
The main danger is from the cognitive action of being on the call - listening / thinking and speaking, as these take up much of the same brain processing areas used for driving in the parietal lobe.
The mythbusters guys did a show on this also, so you know it's true

In all seriousness, because hands-free devices are not illegal, many just assume it's a lot safer and also because you have both hands on the wheel.
But this is really not the case.
I'll leave some links here, but there is a huge amount of it.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/talking-while-driving-is-incredibly-dangerous-even-when-using-hands-free-new-study-finds-a7070486.html


The Road Safety Authority here state in their publications:

RSA wrote:

Never use a hands-free kit or ‘blue tooth’
system when you are driving. It will distract
you and so it is not safe

The AAs stance is:

AA wrote:

Stop or leave it to go to voicemail – even if you have a hands-free phone

So, it's bad enough we have people clearly flouting the law holding their phones, let alone driving dangerously on hands-free devices.

Those who text / use their phone for other things and take their eyes off the road are a whole different breed of stupid.
I'm seeing so many incidences of cars veering off their lanes as drivers have their head down for that vital few seconds to send a stupid message etc...

H3llR4iser

It's all about social media and watching clips now, not so much about the phone. Last time I drove to Cork, I overtook a girl holding a friggin' tablet to her steering wheel, I don't know if she was watching a movie or whatnot.

On the more "academic" side, I guess it makes for a very interesting study in psychology and behaviours - there have always been means of getting totally distracted while driving (you'd see the odd fella holding a book up, or even some truck drivers with a portable TV on the dash), but none was ever as pervasive as the damn' smartphones.

RacoonQueen

A cyclist recently put a clip on twitter of a guy veering on the road...when cyclist came up beside him he had a laptop out(not sure if it was Ireland or the UK)...some people are just stupid, unfortunately there is no IQ test as part of the driving test.

biko

vicwatson

And another massive unenforced problem is people driving cars a)without any lights in poor conditions and b)driving with one or more light bulbs busted (the majority of cars I see with this issue have dashboard indicators when a bulb is out, these aren't ancient crocks, it's people simply ignoring the warnings or too stingy to pay halfords to change the bulb for them if they cant do it themselves)

If Gardai were serious about this one, they could handily set up check points and pull in every culprit, soon the word would get around that it's being enforced.

Henry Ford III

I think any driver with a degree of awareness and a fairly basic ability to mult task can drive quite safely using a handsfree device. I do accept that some don't have that ability.

It's not that different to retuning a radio or using a sat nav (or lighting a cigarette) which would actually require a driver to take their eyes off the road for a longer period.

miamee

It scares me to see others driving with a phone to their ear or, in my opinion worse, looking down at a screen regardless of what speed they are doing. On the few occasions I've noticed a driver of a van or lorry doing so I make sure to get as far away from them as possible as quikly as possible because they are an accident waiting to happen. There really should be more serious consequences to being caught using any device while driving. Though I reckon it should also cover reading the newspaper which I have seen drivers in slow moving traffic do as well.

What ever happened to just listening to the radio and being happy with that?

Comhrá

The 60 Euro fine + 3 penalty points is a pretty minor deterrent to be honest.
In the UK it has been drastically increased recently.

You can get 6 penalty points and a £200 fine if you use a hand-held phone.

https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

In 5 or 10 years time, we'll figure out that it's a good idea to follow suit and that should greatly reduce phone use while driving. Oh, - and when we get another few thousand Gardaí to enforce these new laws.

iomusicdublin

I was overtaken on the N4 yesterday

Car : mini
Driver : female

The phone was on the centre of the wheel playing something. She wasn't looking at the road.

Alun

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I think any driver with a degree of awareness and a fairly basic ability to mult task can drive quite safely using a handsfree device. I do accept that some don't have that ability.

It's not that different to retuning a radio or using a sat nav (or lighting a cigarette) which would actually require a driver to take their eyes off the road for a longer period.

Science disagrees with you ...

From https://sciencealert.com/hands-free-mode-might-be-just-as-distracting-as-holding-your-phone-while-driving

Although many of us think we’re doing the right thing by chatting using hands-free while in the car – a recent study shows you might be just as distracted as if you didn’t bother.
In fact, the study shows that those using either a hand-held or hands-free device had a 40 percent longer response time than those not using a phone at all.
"In real terms this equates to a delayed response distance of about 11 metres for a vehicle travelling at 40km/h," said Shimul Haque from Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

K.Flyer

RacoonQueen wrote: »

A cyclist recently put a clip on twitter of a guy veering on the road...when cyclist came up beside him he had a laptop out(not sure if it was Ireland or the UK)...some people are just stupid, unfortunately there is no IQ test as part of the driving test.

A couple of years back in Ballsbridge I saw a young one in her jeep on the phone with the laptop open propped up in the childs seat.
Yes, I know, women are supposed to be better at multitasking, but that was taking the p!zz.

Danbo!

Obviously anecdotal, but I’ve noticed a massive increase in phone use in the last year when I’m on the bike, and more often than not it’s been scrolling through internet rather than texting or calling. It’s very obvious coming up behind a car, slight deviation from straight or slow to take off at lights, etc. You know which cars not to pass just by their driving. Was so shocked to see someone watching a video in slow moving traffic last week, I almost stopped at a red light

iwillhtfu

Every evening in rush hour M7 I'll see at least 1 driver watching netflix or youtube on their phone. I've given up getting annoyed at the other ones which generally would be 1 in 5. The gardai are really turning a blind eye to it and presumably with the difficulty to gain prosecutions.

The Royal Scam

Saw a woman navigate a roundabout in Clonmel today having a right oul natter on her mobile and there happened to have a marked Garda waiting to come on to roundabout , spotted her and gave her the blues and pulled her over, I'm delighted.