Consultation = gov.uk/government/uploads/s … riving.pdf - a lot of LGV mention in that
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37389800 - £200 + 6 points
The penalties can be raised to whatever but until there is a risk of getting caught then the penalty is pointless, look down next time you are in slow traffic at least 1 in 3 has the phone out texting or checking faceache. The police presence on UK roads is laughable, and when you do see them their driving leaves a lot to be desired, sitting in the middle lane or in one case on the A75 passed a police van where the driver had the phone to his ear. Less reliance on cameras and more visible policing is needed not sneaking about in the latest Audi A6 with no markings.
I was hoping the law would change to a more common sense approach - no mobile phone use of any kind unless vehicle stationary with handbrake applied
2017 if your caught on your phone whilst driving
Will move from 3 - 6 points
£100 - £200
Professionals will receive more!
ROG:
I was hoping the law would change to a more common sense approach - no mobile phone use of any kind unless vehicle stationary with handbrake applied
Why would this be a more common sense approach?
As the article and Mazzer said there aren’t the police out there to detect hand held use, let alone hands free. How are the police going to detect that, by seeing your lips moving when driving? If they did they’d be wasting a lot of time stopping people singing or talking to themselves.
And there are laws that already deal with people who’s driving is distracted, whether they are using a hand held or hands free or just not concentrating for other reasons, but again as this can’t be detected by cameras and there aren’t the police patrols the culprates have very little chance of being caught.
Will these new penalties work, well looking at the graph, maybe for ashore while, but then as the impact and publicity of the new penalties dies down and the actual risk of being caught remains low, the use of hand held phones will creep again.
ROG:
I was hoping the law would change to a more common sense approach - no mobile phone use of any kind unless vehicle stationary with handbrake applied
Altough I know being on the phone, even handsfree, is distracting (try reversing at a bay while on the phone), what about passengers in the car ?
Most people who are talking to each other try to look at each other, every day you see people driving eraticly, because they are talking, arguing with their passengers, shouting at the children at the back seat etc…, so next, a prohibition to carry passengers, or drivers in a special cockpit ?
As for a common sense approach, I know very well to not answer a phone while reversing, during city traffic or at 5 pm on the M6 at Birmingham, I still think I can answer a handsfree phone call while driving on a quiet motorway at 3 am.
Edit; Muckles answer is what I meant, but better worded.
Daross:
Professionals will receive more!
Why are they being harsh on lawyers, doctors, accountants etc 
mazzer:
The penalties can be raised to whatever but until there is a risk of getting caught then the penalty is pointless, look down next time you are in slow traffic at least 1 in 3 has the phone out texting or checking faceache. The police presence on UK roads is laughable, and when you do see them their driving leaves a lot to be desired, sitting in the middle lane or in one case on the A75 passed a police van where the driver had the phone to his ear. Less reliance on cameras and more visible policing is needed not sneaking about in the latest Audi A6 with no markings.
They could have a field day in the evening rush hour on the a14, add tailgating and random lane swapping to the mix, and its a wonder theres not as many accidents as there are already.
It’s the same here. Today me and the mrs going to see or son in Brisbane, about 50 miles. What a mob of f*****g donkeys on the road. Wall to wall traffic in three lanes and there’s still half wits weaving about all over the place and slowing down/speeding up. Really boils my ■■■■. Nearly got hit up the arse without even slowing down by some prat changing lanes with his phone to his ear. A mate was in my car a couple of weeks ago and asked why he couldn’t get a sensible answer out of me; it was because I was concentrating on driving and being a male, I can only do one thing at a time. Seriously though, there’s too many idiots that think of driving as something you do while you’re doing something more important like texting/phoning. Don’t get me started on bleedin’ tailgaters.
bottom line…it wont make a blind bit of difference,and only an increase in the cash cow money revenue coffers.sweden for example has no restrictions for mobile use whilst driving and they dont seem to do badly with it over there…id imagine its more distracting trying to use it when driving and thinking your hiding it though personally im quite happy using it myself constantly.(i do have the obligatory limper earpice plus the double neckbrace thingy that the joggers use when i feel like a change),but il just play with it and txt/call ets as and when it suits.the increas in penalty wont make any difference to my usage.
bald:
what about passengers in the car ?
Passengers have some idea of what is going on around the vehicle - the person on the end of the phone does not
ROG:
bald:
what about passengers in the car ?Passengers have some idea of what is going on around the vehicle
You’ve not met my misses
papermonkey:
They could have a field day in the evening rush hour on the a14, add tailgating and random lane swapping to the mix, and its a wonder theres not as many accidents as there are already.
■■?
Only way they’ll really stop people doing it is to hit people really hard.
Instant 3 month ban and a £1000 fine. Once that new legislation came in the police should be made to have a ■■■■■■■■ purge on it with undercover cars and trucks, would take all of 2 or 3 weeks of countrywide bans to make people really think about wether they really want to risk it.
Unfortunately at the moment, as others have and said and nearly everyone knows, police presence on our roads is a joke. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a police car (marked, granted I may miss the odd undercover one) on a motorway or dual carriageway.
" really soup people "
What kind of people would these be? Scared? Maybe they are chicken.
Judging by some drivers, they could be vegetable.
ROG:
bald:
what about passengers in the car ?Passengers have some idea of what is going on around the vehicle - the person on the end of the phone does not
I doubt if 2 people in a vehicle are engrossed in a conversation to the same level as some who use phone are, that either would react to something happening outside the vehicle until it was too late.
How many collisions are there that don’t involve phone use, where the cause is they didn’t see in time to react?
Loads sadly Muckles.
Idiots rubbernecking are the main cause.
Thing is, you can demand a bigger police presence to deal with people on phones but as soon as the cops do it, you get the usual whingers who focus on the revenue earned rather than the fact all those people got caught using their phones while driving.
Look at speeding blitzes. Its the usual story. They could catch 200 people speeding through a road in one day and rather than say “wow, glad they got dealt with. Maybe they’ll slow down in future” you get the usual focusing on how much money is raised in fines. The cops are damned if they do and damned if they dont.
My solution would be an abolishing of the fine system and instead its an outright ban. Six months to begin with. Then a year for next offence. Then 18 months for the next one and if caught again they just remove the license and that person never gets to drive again. For this system to work howevr, they’d need to only apply it to vehicles that are actually moving. None of this “still in control” pish even though your in neutral with the hand brake on.
muckles:
How many collisions are there that don’t involve phone use, where the cause is they didn’t see in time to react?
Most are caused by a driver not concentrating on the task of driving but allowing themselves to be distracted
eagerbeaver:
" really soup people "What kind of people would these be? Scared? Maybe they are chicken.
Judging by some drivers, they could be vegetable.
Stop not soup! Predictive text is hard one handed while I’m driving down the M1 and stirring my pot of noodles at 56mph!