[Closed] challenging drivers on their mobiles.

We've had the drink-drive laws for 50(?) years and people still get caught. Using a mobile phone whilst driving needs to become seen in the same manner as drink-driving, it won't eradicate it but it will significantly reduce it.

A motorcycle rider, who shall remain nameless once took the phone off a driver who nearly knocked him off and threw the phone over the edge of the Hammersmith flyover. In the car it's quite amusing to lean on the horn if next to the driver, not that I would ever do any of the above.

Cant see what anybody can do about it.It is getting worse.I drive for a living have seen all sorts on them .Bus drivers/fire engine driver/nurses in uniform the list goes on and on.

[i] We've had [this law] for almost 15 years now and so far as I can see it's pretty much universally ignored.[/i]

I did a driving course in a room full of people who'd been caught using their phones, so the cops do look out for them (i wasn't there for that btw, I got bluetoof)

The worst are the drivers who think they're using the phone hands-free because they have it on speaker.

While holding it in one hand 😕

no excuses at all most phones have bluetooth and hands free stuff is not expensive

Bint behind me queuing up Otley Chevin was jabbering on her phone whilst she applied her slap in the mirror and struggling to drive at the same time

In back of a cab on m25 now. Guy has been alongside in a van here and there for a few miles, phone on steering wheel, texting or watching porn, who knows.. Maybe gps. There's prob a few solutions but there's no political will to do much.

Yep. Definitely seems to be on the increase. Young women seem particularly bad for it. Recently saw a bus driver texting while sitting at the lights and was overtaken by a Tesco delivery driver texting as he drove along.

Young women seem particularly bad for it.

The girl I saw FaceTiming on a busy M80 agrees

Liveried vehicles I note the name and reg and email the office. I warn our drivers that I don't expect them to answer if they are driving but to call in at the next lay-by. There is no excuse for holding a phone and driving.

A blog I read today from West Midlands Police says we should simply point at them, no one likes being pointed at.
Whether it would work is another matter.
I see it at every junction, every day. Its endemic now & people simply think its as acceptable as driving through that light that's 'just' turned red..

Here is the blog :-

https://trafficwmp.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/mobile-phonesdriving-and-fomo-fear-of-missing-out/

Bint behind me queuing up Otley Chevin

bus driver texting while sitting at the lights

Going to get flamed for this I know but I think there are grades of badness. Using your phone whilst flying along at 70 on the motorway or negotiating a roundabout - really bad. Using it whilst stationary in a jam on the motorway or even whilst crawling along - not so much.

Not sure where we are with music in cars now either. Previously it was all about ferreting around in the footwell for a cassette - bad. Now most folk have an ipod/iphone attached to the car - is that any better? Do most folk who select a new album on their phone (in a holder, on the seat next to them or wherever) perceive that as using their phone?

Shell had posters in their Aberdeen hq years ago..along the lines of..if you called a mobile you had to establish if other person was driving and if he was call back later else you'd be complicit in dangerous behaviour. That was 15 yrs ago no idea if they still practice that.

I once upset a woman driver by gesturing that she shouldn't use her phone while driving.

She wound down her window to have a go back but I stunned her first by pointing out that we would stop lift sharing the boys to Cubs if she ever tried to use her phone with my lad in her car. 😆

Not sure where we are with music in cars now either. Previously it was all about ferreting around in the footwell for a cassette - bad. Now most folk have an ipod/iphone attached to the car - is that any better? Do most folk who select a new album on their phone (in a holder, on the seat next to them or wherever) perceive that as using their phone?

Regardless, when you run into someone due to distraction, you would rightly be found to blame.

A blog I read today from West Midlands Police says we should simply point at them, no one likes being pointed at.
Whether it would work is another matter.
I see it at every junction, every day. Its endemic now & people simply think its as acceptable as driving through that light that's 'just' turned red..

Dunno about pointing, but endemic is the right word.

I think my loud "get off your effing phone" obviously triggered more fight than flight in the woman this evening, she was yapping on a phone in her left hand clear as day, heard me and screeched to a halt in the middle of the road. "what ****ing phone!?!" "the one you just stuck in the middle" she pulls her pink iPhone out of the drivers door pocket, expecting this to convince me I've gone blind, the phone she was on was black, and in her left hand, plus she has a very quiet passenger, looks like her mum, must be so proud...

It's the front that comes with a lot of them, knowing they can try to bullshit and shout their way out of being noticed breaking the law.

So I just said "sure love" and carried on home, not with worth getting into it and despite all the noise she knew she was in the wrong...

But I think I will just avoid the confrontations from now on, achieves nothing and sooner or later I will meet someone properly nasty...

Just wish the rozzers could be arsed, all they need to do is sit quietly in any of a dozen local sports and snap the dickheads in the act...

People in cars never admit they they are wrong and go straight on the offensive.
You could always squirt them with a water bottle.. But then challenging motorists is a bit like throwing petrol on a fire..

Going to get flamed for this I know but I think there are grades of badness. Using your phone whilst flying along at 70 on the motorway or negotiating a roundabout - really bad. Using it whilst stationary in a jam on the motorway or even whilst crawling along - not so much.

While I see your point I disagree, whether you are doing 5 or 55 you still have a duty to pay attention to driving above all else, and traffic speeds can change quite quickly, you reckon most of them end their calls as soon as they clear a bit of traffic? Do they bollocks!

challenging motorists is a bit like throwing petrol on a fire..

Yep, I need to moderate my response, which is clearly arse about face, but probably makes for good self preservation...

Gets on my bits too, but really annoys me are those driving with headphones on, both earbuds in, or even worse big over the ear jobbies

I'm told its illegal to drive whilst wearing wired headphones - is this true?

Going to get flamed for this I know but I think there are grades of badness. Using your phone whilst flying along at 70 on the motorway or negotiating a roundabout - really bad. Using it whilst stationary in a jam on the motorway or even whilst crawling along - not so much.

Every accident (all 3) have been at under 10mph while being distracted. Usually on a warm, sunny day by a pretty woman 😆

My phone sits in the front of the centre console plugged into the Aux socket to play music, a huge playlist of random stuff. Never gets touched while driving.

I'm told its illegal to drive whilst wearing wired headphones - is this true?

I was told the same. Can't find any legal reference to it though.

I do 33 miles of motorway every morning and every evening. I despair at the number of people on their phones. Either talking or, those who who keep looking down at the phone in their lap while they text.

The other thing I see not end of that really gets my goat is people who use satnav by sticking in right in front of their face. Please stick it somewhere that doesn't obscure 50% of you field of vision.

I use the universal phone symbol and make it obvious to the driver so that other roadusers can see and simulate putting the phone down. If they ignore, do it again & have tapped on the door glass doing this before. Has worked 50% the time, when it doesn't not worth imo getting in a confrontation. Its more than frustrating as everyone knows its downright dangerous - I pointed out a 7.5 tonne driver using mobile to on-coming police car at a mini roundabout & they pulled the driver over!

It's annoying but the truth is your interventions won't achieve anything other than getting yourself more wound up.

No need to get wound up - truth is you can get results! 🙂

I do quite high mileage and see it every day. Really annoys me, especially parents with children in their car or hgv / paid drivers, but they're all bad and breaking the law. But I find myself more annoyed than those doing it. Generally even when pointing it out they don't give a damn.

convert

Going to get flamed for this I know but I think there are grades of badness. Using your phone whilst flying along at 70 on the motorway or negotiating a roundabout - really bad. Using it whilst stationary in a jam on the motorway or even whilst crawling along - not so much.

Just to elaborate, he was driving, not static. Not on the motorway true. But in control of many tons of bus full of people. Texting away as he moved along with traffic.

Not sure where we are with music in cars now either. Previously it was all about ferreting around in the footwell for a cassette - bad. Now most folk have an ipod/iphone attached to the car - is that any better? Do most folk who select a new album on their phone (in a holder, on the seat next to them or wherever) perceive that as using their phone?
Regardless, when you run into someone due to distraction, you would rightly be found to blame.

Easy peasy... Connect phone, set up a playlist longer than needed for journey, hit play, put phone in door, glovebox, arm rest etc. Start engine and drive off.

How flilipng hard is that....

I am not exactly an early adopter for tech and my car is old and uncomplicated but I can figure it out and make it work.

I hate it.

I often think about taking a photo of them on the phone and emailing it to the local constabulary and their employer ( if in a marked vehicle). Not sure whether any action would come of it, but if they see me taking the photo it might make them think twice.

Garage dweller - You missed my point entirely. My point is that we have recently invented a new distraction - is it socially acceptable to use it on the move? I'm sure there will be some rule follower responses along the lines of 'if you cause an accident whilst hunting for Girls Aloud on your iPod you be in hot water' as responded previously but again that's missing the point. If you got in a car with someone who then hunted through their device for a tune would you see that as normal, be seething inside but not say anything or be compelled to make a protest?

It needs to be made as bad as drink driving.
I have to cross a dual carriageway where the jam crawls along at 5 Mph.
The amount of ( mainly ladies ) people looking down at their phones and not me crossing is scary.
The cops should filter down the jam on a bike and nab the lot of them.

hands free devices and voice to text etc are just as bad as using a handheld

FATAL DISTRACTION? A COMPARISON OF THE CELL-PHONE
DRIVER AND THE DRUNK DRIVER

Summary
: We used a high-fidelity driving simulator to compare the performance of
cell-phone drivers with drivers who were legally intoxicated from ethanol.

When drivers were conversing on either a [b]hand-held or hands-free [/b]cell-phone, their reactions were sluggish and they attempted to compensate by driving slower and increasing the following distance from the vehicle immediately in front of them.

By contrast, when drivers were legally intoxicated they exhibited a more aggressive driving style, following closer to the vehicle immediately in front of them and applying more force while braking.

When controlling for driving difficulty and time on task, [b]cell-phone drivers exhibited greater impairment than intoxicated drivers. [/b]

Gets on my bits too, but really annoys me are those driving with headphones on, both earbuds in, or even worse big over the ear jobbies

Yeah!....and those who are deaf or hard of hearing, bout time we did something about them as well.

You may guess I sometimes wear headphones or in ear headphones, inattentive and careless driving is the cause of collisions on our roads.

That is a pretty **** excuse

I consided getting some hard to remove stickers made that I can just slap on the windows in traffic, my wife quite rightly told me I was being petty and just make sure you avoid them. God it winds me up, this week in high winds and hail and still idiots on phones, I say disable them in cars.

Honestly I rarely see folks using their phones at home in Hampshire, however I see it all the time in London when working.
As everyone knows there are some bottlenecks in Town just outside of the congestion zones and Spitalfileds is particularly bad. It's also a main run for cyclists, which means 70% of the time we're not only riding along with Trucks/Taxis/Busses and those sodding Addison Lee Private Hire things that often we're too busy to notice such things as mobile phone use whilst driving.. But on a few occasions it's true, drivers do use thier phones.

I had a particular event a few weeks ago coming down Old St when a woman in a Passat pulled out in front of me into the Bus Lane whilst on her phone. Doing 15mph it's easy to roll up alongside and do the "fake phone to ear" signal, in this instance she just pulled out sideways to get out of the bus lane into me. Luckily there was nothing in the right lane or I'd have been squashed. I paced her to the lights, looked her right in the eye and told her to get off her phone and that she'd just pulled out on me etc. to which she gave me the finger, I loudly laughed whilst keeping eye contact.
She didn't like that.
The lights changed, she cut across 3 lanes of traffic to escape causing chaos as she pulled out. I reckon she's used to being pulled over or being told off for phone use/bad driving.

But I'm squishy, cars aren't, sometimes it's just best to get right on out of the way and ride defensively.. It's often way more enjoyable too.

I ride 40km a day through London on my commute and unfortunately mobile phone use among motorists is incredibly common

I believe its become worse in the past years since the "smartphone" became widespread because there is easy access to the internet with all its distractions

I witness all kinds of motorists driving in London on their hand held phones including private vehicles, buses, taxis, heavy goods vehicles(!)

Its also very obvious when a vehicle is stationary after the lights have changed to green 9/10 times they are distracted tapping on a smart phone screen or using their phone, I see a lot of "private hire" and Addison Lee drivers doing this in London

On several occasions I've managed to alert Police who have caught a driver red handed, but this is rare as there are very few Police to be seen on London's streets.

The most blatant abuse I see is during the "school run" in NW London around Hampstead and Highgate.

I will go out for an early morning ride on my road bike, and coming back down some of the hills towards Swiss Cottage there will be long queues of stationary or slowly moving traffic. I will carefully overtake on the driver side, keeping an eye on the drivers in case they suddenly pull out. With the elevated height sat on a bike, you can see straight into the driver cabin, so its very obvious what they are doing.

I'd estimate that 3/4 of these drivers are tapping on a smartphone or busy talking on their hand held.

I've seen motorists with a book propped up on the steering wheel, going through paperwork on a clipboard and recently a women eating rice from a china plate propped up on her lap whilst she drove forward in a long queue!

If only the Police would take a ride down these roads, they'd nick 100's of motorists 😉

I'm seeing increasing iPad use, let alone phone. Guy the other night driving an Audi R8 with an IPad resting in his lap and I've seen people holding them against steering wheel as well. Most notably a minibus driver merging into the M4 near Heathrow

All you can do is get the reg and report it. A friend of mine was killed while cycling by someone using a mobile. It definitely needs to be taken more seriously. The police could nab scores of people at any junction if the will was there to really set an example.
I think hands free needs to be banned as well. All the evidence I've seen reported in the news seems to suggest it is extremely dangerous (it's the distraction of a remote conversation, not the physical handling of a phone, that is dangerous)

I used to tap on the window and make the 'phone' signal until some neanderthal jumped out and nearly flattened me. Frankly, these days I just try to ignore it.

I was in the car in slow moving traffic the other day, nothing coming in the other direction and an old lady waiting to cross the road. I stopped to let her cross and she was just about halfway when the bell-end in a jag behind me, overtook whilst jabbering on his phone, nearly hitting the old dear!! He managed to get one car length ahead in the queue and nearly ran somebody over for it, some folk are unbelievable 👿

[i]I think hands free needs to be banned as well. All the evidence I've seen reported in the news seems to suggest it is extremely dangerous[/i]

This was suggested in the course I did. But how is it any more dangerous than talking to a passenger?
Ban talking to passengers! Ban kids in cars! I know we used to distract my old man more than anything!

It was also suggested that music is distracting... yeah, better to be awake listening to music than falling asleep at the wheel eh?

Gets on my bits too, but really annoys me are those driving with headphones on, both earbuds in, or even worse big over the ear jobbies

[url= http://www.confused.com/car-insurance/blogs/blog-is-driving-while-wearing-earphones-illegal ]confused.com has this[/url]

So what is the law on driving with earphones in?

Well, a spokeswoman from Gwent Police’s road safety division says: "There is no law specifically banning the use of earphones while driving."

However, the use of earphones at the wheel would fall under the Road Traffic Act offence of not being in control of a vehicle, the spokeswoman adds.

"It would be up to the officer at the roadside to judge whether they thought the driver's control was impaired by the use of earphones or any other activity such as changing a CD or smoking.

"If a driver listening to earphones was involved in a collision then they could face charges under the more serious offence of dangerous driving."

Also, section 148 of the Highway Code states: "Safe driving and riding needs concentration. Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as loud music (this may mask other sounds)."

The other thing I see not end of that really gets my goat is people who use satnav by sticking in right in front of their face.

But how is it any more dangerous than talking to a passenger?
Ban talking to passengers!

Ban kids in cars!

I often think about taking a photo of them on the phone and emailing it to the local constabulary and their employer ( if in a marked vehicle)

This would be with your phone? 🙂

Are you a cop?

If the answer is yes, do something, if the answer is no...Then go about your business. You're getting wound up because you're sticking to the rules, and you see some-one else flouting them. The answer is stop being wound up by other people, otherwise eventually you'll do something that you'll likely regret. There's a risk that they might not be paying sufficient attention on their driving, obviously. The answer to that is; well, you are aren't you? So you're not going to put yourself (or them) in a situation where their action is going to cause an accident.

Drive like everyone else is an idiot. Is the best advice that was given to me when I started to learn.

This was suggested in the course I did. But how is it any more dangerous than talking to a passenger?

Passengers stop taking at junctions, roundabouts, crossings, etc.

Gets on my bits too, but really annoys me are those driving with headphones on, both earbuds in, or even worse big over the ear jobbies

My logic when driving the MG a long way is:
1) I can't hear anything outside the car above the engine noise.
2) The engine is no noisier than a modern car, there's just not as much soundproofing.
3) QED open backed earphones in a soft top is a lot less isolating than the radio in an average family car.

Ditto ear-plugs on the motorbikes.

This would be with your phone?

better to be awake listening to music than falling asleep at the wheel eh?

Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as loud music ([b]this may mask other sounds[/b])

This is a personal pet peeve of mine, linking the distraction with the hearing.

It's the [b]distraction [/b]which is dangerous, not necessarily the masking of other sounds, otherwise it would by definition be dangerous to drive a car if deaf.

Sure you might have reduced awareness of your environment, and deliberately reducing that awareness might not be the best idea in the world, and might increase the overall risk, but it cannot in and of itself be dangerous if the law recognises that it is safe for deaf people to drive.

If you agree that it is safe for a deaf person to drive then you cannot use the masking of sounds/not being able to hear argument. to qualify it as dangerous.

If you *really* thought that hearing every little thing is a pre-requisite of not being [b]dangerous [/b]you would surely be suggesting that people drive everywhere with the windows down so they can hear better?

By all means use the distraction argument, but then logically you have to also be supporting the idea of getting rid of other distractions, like a normal car stereo, kids, passengers, satnav etc.

What invariably happens then is you end up in a logical death spiral where you think listening to music is fine, unless its via headphones, because then you can't hear properly, but it's ok to be deaf but.... arrrrrgh!

*FTR - I am hearing impaired.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Back on topic, I've challenged a few drivers who have overtaken me while on the phone and then stopped at lights moments later, most have sheepishly put the phone down, a few have told me to F'off.

How much trouble would you get in if you tackled the F'offers by saying something like:

"I have your reg, I'll recognise your face, if I see you do that again when I'm in uniform* this conversation will be going a bit differently"

I imagine their tone might change rather sharpish....

*could be a school uniform for all they know 😉

Are you a cop?

If the answer is yes, do something, if the answer is no...Then go about your business. You're getting wound up because you're sticking to the rules, and you see some-one else flouting them/quote]

No, we're getting wound up because it's dangerous, it's nothing to do with the rules, that's the very reason the rule exists!, in the same way I'd be getting wound up if someone was routinely putting my life and the lives of others at risk with their actions.

Would you take the same attitude to a drunk driver or someone weaving around all over the road or otherwise driving dangerously?

It needs to be challenged by normal people until it becomes ingrained that it's NOT ok.

 

The phone-as-GPS, phone-as-music-player thing adds some odd dimensions, I could be wrong but I think that operating a phone as a GPS still constitutes the offence of using a mobile while driving, but you'd not bat an eyelid at someone pressing a button or two on a gps.

Enforcement- it should be pretty straightforward to check call logs etc and see "Accident/offence happened at time X, were they on the phone, yes, increase severity of offence" but it should be more active too. And extremely easy to enforce surely? You'd think it'd even be revenue generating, just need 2 officers in a plain car with a camera?

nickc - Member

You're getting wound up because you're sticking to the rules, and you see some-one else flouting them. The answer is stop being wound up by other people,

If that other person knocks you off your bike it will be hard to not be wound up.

Gopros have a loop mode that keeps recording in to the same five files over and over again. If there's an "incident" then you simply stop recording and the incident is at the end of the recording.

The police (don't know which force or forces) have unmarked lorry tractor units that they use on the motorway to check on lorry drivers as they need something that high up to be able to see in to the cab.

There have been incidents where drivers have been prosecuted for non-driving activities behind the wheel - there was one near Pwllheli in N. Wales where a woman was filmed doing her make-up whilst driving.

Perhaps the real problem is that the judicial system doesn't see such transgressions as being serious enough to warrant removal of the permission to drive.

"I have your reg, I'll recognise your face, if I see you do that again when I'm in uniform* this conversation will be going a bit differently"

Or you could try

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If [s]you let my daughter go[/s] put the phone down now that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you."

[i]and may even point out something driver has missed.[/i]

Yeah - "Since when did you go through red lights?" My passenger asked [i]after[/i] I'd accidentally gone through the red light (hence driving course)! 👿

[i] Because those are the only two possible options?[/i]
Yes, of course 🙄 Music has sometimes kept me awake after a late night gig. Don't see a problem with it.

[i]If that other person knocks you off your bike it will be hard to not be wound up.[/i]

But...You should be riding/driving in such a way as to minimise that, right?

TBH, I understand the frustration, it winds me up as well, but then I think about the disqualified, uninsured, unlicensed, UnMOT, drugs (legal and otherwise) drunk, or probably still over the limit, the young men, the old who's reactions aren't what they were, and aaaaaallllll the other mouth breathers allowed to get behind the wheel...and you know? mobile phone use is just one more of those, that I have to take account of.

Just let is wash over me, otherwise I'd be a headline in the local newspaper

amedias - Member

"I have your reg, I'll recognise your face, if I see you do that again when I'm in uniform* this conversation will be going a bit differently"

"My star wars cosplay stormtrooper uniform is really sweaty, it makes me really tetchy! So I might end up pistolwhipping you with my imperial blaster. And it's a collectable!"

Go-Pro on helmet, wouldn't take long to edit out 5 second clips of each offender and e-mail police/employers.

Personally I'm not that keen on doing the Police's job for them with a Helmet cam or by any other means, we have paid officers for that very purpose.

Others can choose to use them and that's fine, but it shouldn't really be down to law abiding road users to gather and submit evidence on the arseholes...

The couple of times I've actually ridden in traffic with a helmet cam I seemed to just get more evil stares from everyone in a car, and I think it makes half of the drivers you encounter even more keen on seeking a confrontation with a cyclist who appears to be seeking confrontation them self (a visible camera send all sorts of "messages" doesn't it)...

I used to think they were a good idea now I'm really not so sure.

And this all misses the key point really, prevention is always better than cure, how do you incentivize/disincentivize drivers to never touch their phone while driving in the first place?

perhaps it's stronger deterrents, 6 points and a heftier fine would probably be seen as "Heavy handed" but would it have a beneficial impact while the actual "fear of detection" seems to be rather minimal... How about police detection campaigns specifically targeting phone users behind the wheel, as many have said, officers on push bikes in rush hour traffic, with a helmet cam, could easily gather enough evidence to generate several grands worth of fines and make it a god "Cost benefit" activity, but would it have a long term impact on driver behaviour?

As for quibbling over distraction by earphones/music/passengers frankly who GAF?
There's a standing law on handheld phone use while driving, which is widely disregarded and unenforced and I believe this puts vulnerable road users at greater risk, getting lost in peripheral [i]"What about"[/i] arguments is pointless...

Right then, I'm writing to my newly re-elected MP and my local Police commissioner this afternoon, maybe they can explain to me why they don't feel the need to enforce this particular law...

Personally I'm not that keen on doing the Police's job for them with a Helmet cam or by any other means, we have fewer and fewer paid officers for that very purpose.

While there are some news stories* about people being caught/charged for it, the prevalence of people driving while yacking/texting/tinterwebbing etc on phones tends to suggest the police don't have a crackdown high on their list of priorities.

*mostly after an accident by which time it's a bit late.

personally challenge them if the opportunity is there, even if its just a shake of the head and a look of shame.

we shouldn't carry one ignoring anything dangerous and social shame is going to help change attitudes and behaviours.

Fistly good thread

Secondly its composing messages on your phone that is clearly the worst. Talking hands free maybe distracting but at least you can look out of the window

I think we need to let people know hoe we fell as its mainly pier pressure that keeps us on the straight and narrow

I think I'll treat myself to a rant on facebook later

The other week, here in that Wilmslow, they had a couple of dayglo/marked up coppers parked on the cycle lane (grrr!) near the airport tunnel with signs out saying 'targeting mobile phone use'. What use is that I thought? Mean while at the top of the hill, all in black and hiding in the hedgerow was another cop with a walkie talkie... and as I went past he was just radioing ahead to nab some whalley in a 4x4, family in the back, yakering away in his phone. Made me smile even though they messed up what was certainly going to be a strava PB due to parking in the cycle lane.... 🙁

....and the reason why all these people feel safe chatting on their phones and texting? Because there are so few Police on patrol that the fear of a random catch has disappeared. I believe drink-driving is on the increase for the same reason.

It only takes a few well-publicised prosecutions and word begins to spread.

feeling the need to tweet to gmptraffic - might invite them out one morning to join me on the commute

Reported council bin lorry driver reversing down my street using mobile while his colleagues were around the rear of the vehicle. Blatantly needless risk taking, nevermind any member of the public around too.

I got a reply a few weeks later saying the waste contractor had spoken to the driver about it. Hopefully the fact that it has been noticed has made him think twice about doing so in future.

I feel pretty sad when I see someone gabbing on a phone with kids in the car.

As others have said, there is almost no police presence dealing with any of this thesedays, especially not on local roads. Pretty much the wild west really.

We lost a baby a few weeks after some c**t in a van drove into the back of my wife's car whilst he was on the phone.
No idea if the two were related but she started bleeding the day of the accident, and never stopped until she lost the baby.

As a result I have a total hatred of people talking on the phone whilst driving - I do a lot of miles (25k per year) and have seen everyone doing it from - HGV drivers, fuel tanker drivers, police in uniform.
It needs to be treated the same way as drink driving -
get caught = driving ban.

I think car manufacturers and the design of some of the newer in car entertainment systems have a part to play in peoples perception that it is okay to fiddle around with touch screens while driving.

I was in a courtesy car with a mate recently, a brand new Insignia, and it had a touch screen about the size of an ipad as the radio (and several other functions) - I think these are in principal wrong because operating it is based upon looking at the bloody thing! Radios with physical buttons allow you to know and feel what you're doing without looking at them.

However.. what really surprised me was a tracker pad type thing in the centre console of the Insignia that the driver is able to operate a **** cursor with on the screen. WTF are these things doing in cars?! No wonder people think it is ok to play on their phone. I was also in a brand new 5 series recently and it had a similar tracker pad thing where the driver is able to draw letters on a pad to input postcodes etc.

FWIW it boils my piss seeing people on their blower in the motor. Nearly every day I get someone behind me constantly looking down every two seconds at what I assume is their phone and not their genitalia. If one of them crashes into the back of me I'll do serious **** jailtime for them. Rant over.

I understand the white-van man needs to make calls, given the amount of time they spend on the road. Should employers step up and equip these vehicles with hands free? Should this be applied to all commercial vehicles, at employers expense?

Can't stand seeing 4 blokes jammed upfront in a van, with the drivers steering with his elbows using phone. If you need to make a call, get you mate to do it ffs.

my old fella used to drive wagons nearly 15 years ago and they had them all fitted with hand free? how there are commercial vehicles on now without it do now know. dont get me started on the dirvers in 40k worth of motor and they cant figure out how to pair the 500 quid iphone to the car. bellends

this was a great one from this morning.

muppet driving down CS3 segregated cycle superhighway on cable street, caused a women to crash her bike.

driver then started getting aggressive towards cyclists who challenged him, told them to f*ck off and gave them the finger, and then drove off again down CS3 causing oncoming cyclists to swerve to avoid his vehicle.

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WTF are these things doing in cars?!

My car has a touch screen with loads of menus and things, but almost all of it stops working when you start moving. The stuff you should be operating whilst moving is all on the steering wheel in button form. This results in a fairly fearsome array of buttons but they are all shaped, dimpled and protruded differently so after a while you can do what you want without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road.

Good work, Toyota (IMO)

Freeagent - that is truly shocking. Nothing anyone can say that could help you.