Lets be truthful here, you aint real lorry drivers any more so therefore you need all the cushioning from the real world you can get !!
albion1971:
So many people can deal with a high workload situation and also deal with driving;I would like to know how you believe that statement because from what I have seen it is exactly the opposite.Simply
because the average driver cannot focus.
No matter how much we’d like to think we are viewing things with rationally with unbiased mind the human brain isn’t very good at doing so and therefore will work on your preconceptions.
If you believe that all Red Micra drivers are doddering old buffers, you’ll see loads of Red Micras driven by doddering old buffers. If you think all East European drivers are crap, you’ll pick up on crap East European drivers.
Your brain picks up on bad drivers to reinforce your preconceptions, which you’ve made no secret of here. However don’t feel bad about it, we’re all human and we all do the same thing to a certain extent.
Why do the penalties need changing? Vast increase in phone related accidents or changing for no real reason.
Ban smoking behind the wheel. That would be too unpopular though…
muckles:
And as for your Train drivers example, I know racing drivers who manage to get down the Mulsanne straight in the dark at 200mph looking out for slow GT cars in front and avoiding the far quicker LMP1 cars coming up from behind and also talking with the engineers and adjusting engine settings. So many people can deal with a high workload situation and also deal with driving;
.
Very true and a valid point but the racing driver doesn’t have 600 joe public from a highly litigious society sitting a few feet behind him either. 
Buggered if I’d want the responsibility.
Gembo:
muckles:
And as for your Train drivers example, I know racing drivers who manage to get down the Mulsanne straight in the dark at 200mph looking out for slow GT cars in front and avoiding the far quicker LMP1 cars coming up from behind and also talking with the engineers and adjusting engine settings. So many people can deal with a high workload situation and also deal with driving;
.Very true and a valid point but the racing driver doesn’t have 600 joe public from a highly litigious society sitting a few feet behind him either.
Buggered if I’d want the responsibility.
Fair point, and I wouldn’t belittle the job of a train driver, especially at 125mph. 
but then the racing driver does have to face a load of mechanics who have just realised they’re not going to the bar because you’ve shunted the car. 
ajt:
Why do the penalties need changing? Vast increase in phone related accidents or changing for no real reason.Ban smoking behind the wheel. That would be too unpopular though…
I think it’s been noticed that despite a law banning hand held phones being round for a few years it hasn’t done much to stop people using them, so they’ve decided that extra penalties will work.
However the problem isn’t the penalties imposed on drivers being to lenient, but there is very little deterrent due to the fact that police patrols are a rarity these days.
Why do you only get four points in a car when you get six in an hgv ? A car can cause just as much mayhem as an hgv when things go wrong. Who on here is so important that the boss can’t simply leave a message that the driver can read or call back when they find somewhere to stop ?
ajt:
Why do the penalties need changing? Vast increase in phone related accidents or changing for no real reason.Ban smoking behind the wheel. That would be too unpopular though…
Upping the penalties is a good way to police without policing. With all the budget cuts it is going to be increasingly less likely to get caught, so a bit of publicity about harsher punishments is probably a cheap way of keeping a modicum of control over the deteriorating situation.
Banning smoking - if you’re in a lorry, it has already been banned!
As for hands free … I have mixed thoughts on this, late at night on a quiet motorway chatting to someone else’s wife could be the catalyst to staying awake and alert, so an arguable safety aspect. But like everything there is a time and a place, and unfortunately some people will persist with these phone conversations through small villages and busy town centres, and that’s why it needs to be outlawed.
Before it was entirely illegal I used to make short calls, pick my moment on a quiet stretch, speed dial the misses and tell her what time I would be home. I don’t believe I was posing any danger to anyone, however it did need banning outright as folk were crashing into the back of each other on the school run - spoilt it for everyone.
I observed a logger coming through our village the other week, chatting away on the CB, what an idiot ! he has plenty of time to play on the CB, why faff about with it in a 30 zone, this is a time for 100% concentration … someone like that will be in a bad accident then CBs will be banned.
peterm:
A car can cause just as much mayhem as an hgv when things go wrong.
Not really. 44 tonnes will always make a much bigger mess of another vehicle in an accident than a car will.
But I know what you mean and I agree with you. It should be the same penalty regardless of mode of transport.
Ive also long since said that if you are caught using your mobie behind the wheel of an hgv you lose your entitlment. Well the same should apply to cars and vans. If your caught, you get resticted to driving less than 1100cc.
ROG:
Drivers using mobiles face bigger fines and more points - BBC NewsPenalty points would increase from three to four for persistent offenders and from three to six for drivers of larger vehicles, such as HGVs.
I do not have a problem with that but two issues are still not sorted - not enough traffic cops and hands free is still allowed
I don’t think one can text on a hands-free…
All the newly-minted traffic cop has to do is bust those people fiddling around in their laps, or holding the offending device up to their ear.
You need patrol cars with sideways-pointing cameras to get the cheap and easily obtained video evidence.
An on-the-spot fine system would work best. Contest it - and you get points on the licence instead. Take it to court, and the minimum fine is £1000.
Just pay the damned fine, and don’t argue the toss with the rozzers when they’ve got you bang-to-rights! 
I don’t drink and drive - ever.
I’ve never used a phone whilst driving - ever.
I see both going on around me all the time, and all the police are interested in around my way is “wondering why I’m driving my car along a street full of streetwalkers in the small hours…”
I’m on my way home from a night shift FFS.
I even got pulled once for stopping at a zebra crossing (on the way home from work in the small hours), some tom walked out onto the crossing, walked upto the front of my car, and the police pounced… It was only the fact I had no cash on me that proved I wasn’t kerb crawling - but of course I had to submit to a search to show that. 
I’m beginning to wonder if all the toms are actually plain-clothes police station girls on some kind of tender trap scam?
Do you know how a racing driver gets to F1?
Yes got a fair idea. Why? I do not take any interest in F1 but know exactly how tough it is to get to the top in bike racing and to me that takes far more skill than car racing.
Training was probably the wrong word to use and maybe why you asked.
The-Snowman:
peterm:
A car can cause just as much mayhem as an hgv when things go wrong.Not really. 44 tonnes will always make a much bigger mess of another vehicle in an accident than a car will.
But I know what you mean and I agree with you. It should be the same penalty regardless of mode of transport.
Ive also long since said that if you are caught using your mobie behind the wheel of an hgv you lose your entitlment. Well the same should apply to cars and vans. If your caught, you get resticted to driving less than 1100cc.
Hmmm I am a bit confused by your answer. Firstly you agree a truck will cause far more damage than a car in an accident.(which is why the penalty is higher) then you agree with peterm and say the penalties should be the same.
I do agree if any driver is caught they should lose their entitlement to drive. That would be a proper deterrent and more likely to make people think.
Can’t understand your theory on limiting car drivers to 1100cc. How is that relevant?
The-Snowman:
peterm:
A car can cause just as much mayhem as an hgv when things go wrong.Not really. 44 tonnes will always make a much bigger mess of another vehicle in an accident than a car will.
But I know what you mean and I agree with you. It should be the same penalty regardless of mode of transport.
Ive also long since said that if you are caught using your mobie behind the wheel of an hgv you lose your entitlment. Well the same should apply to cars and vans. If your caught, you get resticted to driving less than 1100cc.
so you wouldn’t be able to drive a triumph herald 1200,but okay to propel some modern 1 litre pocket-rocket?
Gembo:
ROG:
xichrisxi You have totally missed the pointIndeed and a poor argument that’s been done to bloody death and has no resemblance to yapping on a phone!
Concentration aside your more likely to take your eyes off the road talking to someone sat next to you than you are talking on the phone…
xichrisxi:
Gembo:
ROG:
xichrisxi You have totally missed the pointIndeed and a poor argument that’s been done to bloody death and has no resemblance to yapping on a phone!
Concentration aside your more likely to take your eyes off the road talking to someone sat next to you than you are talking on the phone…
Trouble is you cannot put concentration aside.
It is the most important factor.
Many drivers look at the road ahead but because their mind is on something else they are not aware and do not react to what they see.
Try a little test; next time you are about to back on a bay phone a mate for a chat. Handheld or handsfree, makes no difference, you will ■■■■■■■■ it up.
the maoster:
Try a little test; next time you are about to back on a bay phone a mate for a chat. Handheld or handsfree, makes no difference, you will ■■■■■■■■ it up.
That’s a bloody good example!!
Talking of distractions, this could come as abit of an eye opener-
theglobeandmail.com/news/nat … e27560373/
Manufacturers could stop this bollox in an instant.
A phone jammer that operates when the hand brake is off.
Nothing is that important that it costs you your licence.
Just log calls till you stop and apply the handbrake.
Some pillock from the “transport” office will still have their license,but because you need to “just nip here” to make the man a few extra quid(which you will get sod all for) you got no license and no job.
If they are that desperate to talk to you then they buy the kit or they wait.
When are people going to wake up.Went “driving” last week for some bloody Irish shysters that begins with Mont…(red mercs) Took the phone out the truck so that the morons that “slave” for these pigs on minimum wage can pay for the bloody phone calls.
About time these ■■■■■■■■ went out of business big time.
Would rather be on the dole than work for these rats.,
there is an instance of a driver being convicted of causing death by dangerous driving for using a hands free device at the moment of the collision.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article … iving.html