carryfast-yeti:
as Professional Drivers,surely we’re more capable of driving our vehicles safely whilst being on the 'phone…so the penalties should be lower?
What absolute rubbish. Tell me why you think just because we pass a basic test to drive a lorry that makes our concentration levels any better?
Agreed so why make LGV drivers a special case, except it appeals to certain sections of the public who like the idea of the government being “tough” on another section of society.
peterm:
you’re only professional when something goes wrong.
To be honest they could put it up to 12 points and it still wouldn’t really work, because as when they bought in the law and then increased it 6 points, it will have an immediate short term effect, but then people will drift back to using hand held phones when the publicity wears off and they see other doing it and not getting caught because there are hardly any traffic police left patrolling the roads to actually catch them and its not an offence you can catch on automatic cameras.
ROG:
What I do not get is this - (CAVEAT = as long as vehicle is under control)
Drive one handed = legal
Drive one handed whilst on hand held mobile = illegal
Drive one handed on hands free mobile = legal
The distraction is the same whether using hands free or hand held = that is fact
As it must be the distraction which is the issue then why is one legal and the other not ? - or did I miss something ?
^^this is my view too.
i don’t hold my phone if i’m driving, but because i don’t want points and a fine, not because i think it’s wrong. i don’t see it being any different than being on hands free.
driving can be boring, being bored is tiring, a phone call will stop you being bored and less likely to get tired. now i know certain people will go ape ■■■■ and say with the 1st hint of a yawn you should pull over and have an 8 hour kip yada yada yada. but in the real world, i’ve rung people up when starting to feel tired and it usually does the trick. if i need to pull over for a kip i do!
shep532:
With regard to the OP … I agree the penalty should be raised but should be raised for all. My personal belief is the penalty should be the same as drink driving but that’s just my opinion and we all think differently.
I phone my mates every night. We can sometimes talk for an hour. My phone is connected to my truck so its hands free, usually on the A1 in the wee hours of the morning and quite often I am the only truck in sight. Tell me why that is dangerous and why I should be fined.
I’ve used mobile phones a lot when driving and I’ve done countless thousands of miles of doing it and never had as much as a near miss. What I will tell you though is I never use it when there’s any more than light traffic, when driving in urban areas, when driving down twisty roads. The majority of its use has been on roads such as the A1, M6 etc and on nights. I use hands free and have since it first became available. I don’t text when driving which is never ever safe in any circumstances.
Did you used to do 50MPH on single carriage A roads and 56MPH on dual carriageways before 6th April last year?? Its quite OK if you did because most drivers did. But given the claim that speeding kills and that was speeding, why was that OK but this isn’t? Speeding in a truck at the previously universally accepted 50MPH on single carriage roads and 56MPH was so dangerous the government raised the speed limits to that. So much for the whole speeding kills bollox eh? Yet there are times when you can be on a road and 50MPH will kill you, so would doing the previous limit of 40. But as a driver you recognised that and slowed down to an appropriate speed for that bit of road. So why can’t you accept that most drivers are capable of making a decision about when its safe to use a phone to have a conversation?
But only if the police are banned from using radios when driving as well. After all if it is truly dangerous to use a mobile phone when driving then it sure as hell is dangerous to use a police radio during a pursuit or driving at speed to an emergency/trying to get through urban traffic on a blue light.
But only if the police are banned from using radios when driving as well. After all if it is truly dangerous to use a mobile phone when driving then it sure as hell is dangerous to use a police radio during a pursuit or driving at speed to an emergency/trying to get through urban traffic on a blue light.
"Speeding away from the Junction now control… Turning left… Brake action! Brake Action! …Leaving westwards along A14 now control… Brake action Brake action! - His LH R Trailer indicator is out! - We’ve Got him Control!"
Think how much easier it is for the police to do some traditional “Pull overs” here - rather than “spotting someone twiddling with their knob” or fooling around with some mess of choc in their lap…
Mobiles held to the ear though? - We see it all the time.
I’m quite happy to see all this very last group get busted - because driving with a “who cares” attitude is possibly the most dangerous driving of all.
It should be the same rule for everyone! (Whatever that may be…)
I’ll use hands-free, but admit that’s not completely safe when you’re taking your eyes of the road to pick up or end the call. Possibly more so with some of the stupid places the in cab has been located/fixed! But what get’s me, is that the office will always call at the most awkward inopportune moment!
As for it being a distraction, what’s the difference between the phone on hands free and conversing with a passenger?
I’d suggest all children placed in the back seat should be bound and gagged!
Or preferable in the boot!
Conor:
… So why can’t you accept that most drivers are capable of making a decision about when its safe to use a phone to have a conversation?
I agree with most of your post. Speeding does not always kill - it is more than likely safe to speed in some instances - and yes I do. I ride a very big and powerful bike and yes I use the performance when I feel it appropriate … But I fully accept that if/when I get caught I will be treated as the criminal I am whether my driving/riding was safe or not.
I personally believe there are times when it may be safe to use a mobile but believe some people cannot identify that in the same way some speed at what you or I would think was an inappropriate time.
Unfortunately we need a strong deterrent to prevent this. Unfortunately if this was introduced then you and I would also have to comply, or make our own choice to comply or not.
I think the problem is big enough that the deterrent needs to be a 12month ban etc. drivers aren’t just making the occasional call in safe circumstances - they are texting, phoning, facebooking etc constantly. If we cannot trust the individual then we all have to suffer.
The change to the drink drive law in Ireland is unfair but unfortunately needed - mobiles are the same.
I do not think vocational drivers should be treated differently though.
We all have varying opinions for varying reasons. I’d like to think I know when and when not to use my phone … I also know for fact that I cannot be trusted to be that sensible.
Also - let’s be honest, what’s the problem? What is this need for instant communication? If we can’t use the phone we can’t use the phone
And to prove my point that its not about safety at all and everything to do with generating revenue…
Just watching Police Interceptors series 7, Episode 6 at 40 minutes. Police dog handler in his car travelling around Lincolnshire back roads in the middle of the bad winter storms we had last year talking to a friend on the mobile phone hands free in his police car about the storm conditions and Boston police station being closed.
xichrisxi:
Wonder how many people who are “for” increasing the punishment smoke,and is those same peopl would be “for” making it illegal to smoke altogether in ANY vehicle…it’s amazing how this is never spoke of by the powers that be,maybe it’s because they smoke themselves ,how many times per ■■■ do people have to take their hand off the steering wheel,I can make,receive and take calls on my earpiece without my hands leaving the steering wheel once.
I agree about this potentially smoking at the wheel is the most dangerous. If you cigarette falls in your lap I guarantee you aren’t concentrating in the road and as for kids arguing in the back.
A so called professional driver should receive double points / double fines for most things, even speeding (well its virtually impossible to get done now with increased limits unless your a total muppet).
Regardless of studies which usually produce skewed results based on whose funding them anyway, use of mobile phone in handheld mode is a pet hate of mine.
Even pouring a cup of tea or sucking on ones vape ciggy has to be done carefully, I.e. check mirrors for plod first.
Dipper_Dave:
A so called professional driver should receive double points / double fines for most things, even speeding (well its virtually impossible to get done now with increased limits unless your a total muppet).
If HGV drivers got trained, paid and treated like skilled professionals then those that use “professional driver” as a derogatory term or to levy harsher penalties on us might have a point, until then we are just people who make a living from driving large vehicles after passing a basic test.
Funny how were only professional when it suits the powers that be if its a profession then why its treated so badly in terms of pay and facilities more government bs to raise money using a universal hatred of hgvs to get public agreement and then have the cheek to say were professional.
the possible Reason for getting you in an Accident:
The others Fault
on the Phone
Tired
reading Map or directions during driving
something else catching Attention
speeding
un-experiabced Driver
just un-lucky
Most unlikely is an Accident planed,but if it will happen its often hard to avoid it. (Just not your Day)
So just use your Phone-call to have a cuppa on a Cafe and everyone is happy
But only if the police are banned from using radios when driving as well. After all if it is truly dangerous to use a mobile phone when driving then it sure as hell is dangerous to use a police radio during a pursuit or driving at speed to an emergency/trying to get through urban traffic on a blue light.
Police are trained to a higher standard.
FPN should be;
6 points.
£1000 fine.
And sieze the vehcile, make it inconvienient for people.
Dipper_Dave:
A so called professional driver should receive double points / double fines for most things, even speeding (well its virtually impossible to get done now with increased limits unless your a total muppet).
If HGV drivers got trained, paid and treated like skilled professionals then those that use “professional driver” as a derogatory term or to levy harsher penalties on us might have a point, until then we are just people who make a living from driving large vehicles after passing a basic test.
Another way this could be approached is the fines and penalties entirely being put upon the employer.
That way, a driver who gets their firm fined - gets sacked. Let’s create a shortage drivers for real, and that way the rest of us get some decent terms & conditions as standard.
We see every day bad driving,wot erks me is when it is an hgv,these things kill.So I took the questionnaire, and said any hgv driver found to use a phone not on a hand free device, should receive same as car driver,but on second offence should have his vocational licence suspended for 3 to 12 months,we above all should know better
But what get’s me, is that the office will always call at the most awkward inopportune moment! 
,how many times per ■■■ do people have to take their hand off the steering wheel,I can make,receive and take calls on my earpiece without my hands leaving the steering wheel once.