Dublin City FM

WishUWereHere

Hi

Bit of a rant here, and not sure where exactly to put this thread:

I drive for a living and live in Newbridge, so basically have no option but to use the N/M7 daily. I like to listen to DCFM in the evening times. 2 days ago I was in a hurry as had to get home for an appointment. As per normal I listened into DCFM. I am aware his last camera is around Rathcoole, and he relies on people texting in for updates further on.

That evening he mentioned that there had been a crash around 'The Ball' but by the time I was driving down, it had been cleared. He also mentioned that apparently there was a car on fire around the M7/M9 junction, but He had no idea as to the state of the build up beyond the Ball.

I drove down and as soon as I passed the Ball, came to a sudden stop. From J9 to J10 took me 53 minutes. Also only around 18h50 he mentioned that apparently the 'state-of-affairs' in the area was much worse than he was mentioning up to now, as someone had just texted him.

I'm not complaining about the service DCFM gives as it is invaluable. But, I only wish he had got that text earlier. I don't text, but would have phoned him in ( bluetooth ) much earlier advising people to avoid the M7 if at all possible. Also this makes me wonder how can anyone text while behind a steering wheel? It is against the law for anyone to touch a mobile while behind a steering wheel - I saw a Garda pull a bloke in and book him in Pearse Street in Dublin even though there was a traffic jam at the time.

I honestly think DCFM would give a better service if they had someone to answer that 087 number.

Or................am I wrong?

patrickc

many people can text with android auto and the apple equivalent.

cython

patrickc wrote: »

many people can text with android auto and the apple equivalent.

Many, maybe. Most? Doubtful! That being said, SMS lends itself to brevity, and likely in the time that it would take someone to field one phone call and capture the detail from it, 5-10 SMSes could easily be reviewed and summarised, so a phone line could be a similar bottleneck to the traffic, or require a lot more manpower.

Dravokivich

If you're not parked you're driving. So really shouldn't be touching your phone under any circumstances while on the road.

Del2005

Could you not use Google Maps or Waze when driving to avoid traffic jams? You'd get the info much quicker than waiting for it to be reported, read out.

Wishbone Ash

There's nothing to stop passengers or anyone in a taxi, bus etc, from texting. I wouldn't presume it is drivers who are doing it.