Scary to see them.
Bloody daydreamers, and far too easily distracted. Good examples of why insurers ask for such astronomical fees to cover em. Not all, but a huge number of em are not focussed enough to be let loose on the roads with a potential killing machine.
Not forgetting of course, that many, many adults are just as bad.
Probably why some insurance companies want driver facing cams?
Have they announced another crackdown in this country on mobiles? I remember hearing a few things on the news about people not taking the law seriously. I thought ah well, pretty much nobody uses them while driving now (I was a van driver at the time). Once I got on HGV’s I realised when waiting in traffic a large number of people texting/facebooking holding the phone under the dashboard. I thought oh well, they’re stopped in traffic, not the worst crime ever. Then one of the new drivers came with me for the day to get used to the trucks, jobs etc. On the way back I was the passenger and I could not believe how many people I saw texting etc. while on the move…not just teenagers either. …when you see traffic slowing down quickly on the motorway its quite scary to imagine how many currently don’t have their eyes on the road.
Did anyone see that clip in that video of the guy changing the music tracks? This makes me think of another thing. Could there be more people not paying proper attention now as many use their phones etc. to listen to music? I had an ipod connector on my old car that allowed you to change playlists and tracks from the head unit…didn’t even need to look at the ipod, but many phones just have a headphone jack, so people will actually look at the phone to change tracks etc.
Scary stuff…I will admit to a quick bite of a sandwich or sip of coffee while sitting at the traffic lights but anything that takes my eyes off the road is a definate no-no.
If you can try and watch the TV prog 16 and pregnant as it shows virtually all of them driving either pregnant or with babies without using seatbelts and using mobiles … whilst being filmed for the programme !!
OK that’s American teenagers - so how do ours compare ?
That was the most unnerving piece of film I’ve seen for a long time. For two reasons: one, the obvious lunacy of it; two, because it reminded me that when mobiles first came out and we didn’t know the dangers, I too used the phone on the move.
The difference was that I was already a mature driver by then, and experience informed me that this was dangerous, so I stopped dialing or texting on the move.
Teenagers are not informed by experience so they need to be educated in advance; to which end that video should be shown in schools at wet playtimes or broadcast as a public information film (and bugger the cries of ‘nanny state’!). Robert
I have stated before that the current law on mobiles is not a common sense approach
The law should be IMO that no mobile hand held or hands free can be used by the driver whilst the vehicle is in motion which would then allow drivers to use them legally when stopped in traffic queues etc
Its the distraction without personal interaction which is the unsafe bit
And every time I say on here that I think its ok to report someone using a phone/laptop whatever I get shouted down by calls of “not your business” “what someone else does is up to them” “nothing happened,whats the problem” etc etc. These clips show you what can easily happen. Look how long some of them spent engrossed on texting and didnt see corners,junctions,stopping traffic whatever. Imagine if that was someone stepping out in front of them? Or they kill someone else who just happened to be coming the other way? Being sorry and regretting your actions doesnt really help the other family. But I suppose that’ll be me buying the media propaganda again
Unfortunately you’ll never stop people who think that watching the road is not the most important thing when they need to text someone or see whats on facebook. There was a story last year of a guy playing a RACING GAME on his tablet when driving on the M8 near Glasgow. How do you deal with people like that? £100 and 3 points obv isnt working.
Perhaps an automatic license suspention for 6 months for first offence then get it taken away for a second.
The-Snowman:
How do you deal with people like that? £100 and 3 points obv isnt working.
Perhaps an automatic license suspention for 6 months for first offence then get it taken away for a second.
A one month licence suspension with immediate effect would work for many traffic issues
No worse than SOME HGV drivers I’ve seen.
ROG:
The-Snowman:
How do you deal with people like that? £100 and 3 points obv isnt working.
Perhaps an automatic license suspention for 6 months for first offence then get it taken away for a second.A one month licence suspension with immediate effect would work for many traffic issues
Yep. Probably more of a deterrent than an automatic fine for some people.
Had a kid (20yr old) in his BMW drive straight into the back of my motorbike a few weeks ago.
I stopped at a roundabout with traffic on it and he hit me.
When taking pics and exchanging details, his iphone glass was broken, so I asked how that happened and he said it fell off his lap when he got out of the car 
KarlM:
Have they announced another crackdown in this country on mobiles? I remember hearing a few things on the news about people not taking the law seriously. I thought ah well, pretty much nobody uses them while driving now (I was a van driver at the time). Once I got on HGV’s I realised when waiting in traffic a large number of people texting/facebooking holding the phone under the dashboard. I thought oh well, they’re stopped in traffic, not the worst crime ever. Then one of the new drivers came with me for the day to get used to the trucks, jobs etc. On the way back I was the passenger and I could not believe how many people I saw texting etc. while on the move…not just teenagers either. …when you see traffic slowing down quickly on the motorway its quite scary to imagine how many currently don’t have their eyes on the road.Did anyone see that clip in that video of the guy changing the music tracks? This makes me think of another thing. Could there be more people not paying proper attention now as many use their phones etc. to listen to music? I had an ipod connector on my old car that allowed you to change playlists and tracks from the head unit…didn’t even need to look at the ipod, but many phones just have a headphone jack, so people will actually look at the phone to change tracks etc.
Scary stuff…I will admit to a quick bite of a sandwich or sip of coffee while sitting at the traffic lights but anything that takes my eyes off the road is a definate no-no.
Can’t you now get done for diddling with an mp3 player whilst driving - or drinking from a coke can, eating, and other things that might occupy the hands…?
These Russian dashcam crash vids one comes across… Makes you wonder if nearly every car or truck running off the road, or going into a skid for no apprent reason is “text” related don’t it?
The-Snowman:
ROG:
The-Snowman:
How do you deal with people like that? £100 and 3 points obv isnt working.
Perhaps an automatic license suspention for 6 months for first offence then get it taken away for a second.A one month licence suspension with immediate effect would work for many traffic issues
Yep. Probably more of a deterrent than an automatic fine for some people.
Yeh, but I could cynically say that “There’s no money in that for the authorities”…
The main reason DVLA issues points on licences is to maximize revenues to themselves and the insurance industry. It’ll cost a lot more to stay on the road once you’ve got an endorsed licence, and/or had a third-party claim against your own insurance. If every driver on our roads was an unendorsed paragon of driving - the insurance companies would only be able to charge us low premiums, and would be in much greater danger from “black swan claims” as a consequence. You don’t go broke by laying favourites - you go broke by laying 100-1 no hopers than then do the unthinkable - and win like Ramone in the 3:45 at the Curragh last Sunday…
Who remembers a time when bans were routinely issued with no “halfway house” of having an endorsed licence?
“For crashing your luton box into a parked car - £50 fine and 30 day driving ban…”
ROG:
I h
The law should be IMO that no mobile hand held or hands free can be used by the driver whilst the vehicle is in motion which would then allow drivers to use them legally when stopped in traffic queues etcIts the distraction without personal interaction which is the unsafe bit
Explain then the joint Carnegie Mellor/London School of Economics study into mobile phone use whilst driving which could find no measurable increase in risk when people use them for voice calls? They looked at reams and reams of data regarding traffic accidents in the hour prior to and after mobile networks in the USA go on to free mobile phone calls and could find no difference at all. And that is in a country with far lower driving standards than our own.
And then there’s the “person killed by driver on their mobile phone” headlines where it then turns out when you read the story that they’d sent or received a text/call minutes before the accident meaning it had absolutely no bearing on the fact they had an accident.
There is no justifiable reason for banning hands free use other than for revenue generation.
You’re just knee jerking like all the “speed kills” mob do. Even the police were eventually forced to admit that speeding was the primary factor in less than 5% of all accidents, fatal and non-fatal.
FPN of £1000.
6 points.
And seize the vehcile.
Thats what it should be.
It’s not just teenagers, I’ve see loads of trucks blabbering away holding phone up, think they’d at least have sense to get a hands free!
I’ll freely admit to using my phone via Bluetooth on the move to talk to Mrs or kids especially more this week as I’m working and they’re off school. Occasionally I’ll answer work[emoji57]
I don’t think they need banning, just used legally.
Did anyone else find it unnerving by the fact that none of them really showed any fear…like this wasn’t the first time it happened and they knew how to control the situation?
sinclair89:
Did anyone else find it unnerving by the fact that none of them really showed any fear…like this wasn’t the first time it happened and they knew how to control the situation?
Yes!! I found that quite eerie. They reminded me of the implacable faces of the youngsters in Children of the Damned! Robert
I’ve been at a site today you know the pallet cowboys .there’s so many
Teenager on the phone in his pap pap truck .I told him to put it down .barred off site .23 years a driver .things never so bad.do as your told or claim dole.as we all know rule number one if a desk jockey tells you to jump off a cliff don’t do it
As they are untrained and profit and shareholders outweigh life
It was unity pallet network .the shareholders dream.are they ever going to implement health and safety and workers rights .or keep winging it for decades to come.bays you thickitts.I know the rent is more
Take it from executive pay…#wishiwasanaccountant