[Closed] Drivers engrossed in mobile phone activity in the car following you. . . .

Short beep of the horn every time their head drops.

It's fine so long as you keep one hand on the wheel.

Have a go. I was told by one mother with two children 'what's it to you'? After she came close to hitting my car. If they are following hit the hazzard lights briefly and or beep if they are 'that' close/dangerous.

If they're behind you, get out your phone and video them then brake check them. Should be a winner on YouTube.

Never ever brake test anyone. Nor undertake. Two of the worst things you can do to another driver.

Aye, it's constant, was on the news recently that it's worse in Scotland than the rest of the U.K., which wasn't a surprise considering how often I see it. Most common offenders I see are young females, seems they are part android. Or IOS.....

Makes me mad as well, stiffer penalties are needed, instant 1 month driving ban and 6 points should do it.
Apart from that bapping the horn should get their attention.

What can be done? Its endemic, I sit at the same junction every day and see multiple drivers using their phones.

When I see them when I am commuting on my bike I get ( when they are stationary) really close to the drivers window and shout loudly. then laugh as they drop the phone startled and guilty 🙂

Always try to make as much space around you as you can, you'll never stop crap driving, just defend yourself against it.

Doesn't work if you are cycling though!
It seems split by gender, females all texting/facebooking/twitter etc & males having their phone glued to their ears.

Stop texting/calling them when they're driving? 😉

Doesn't work if you are cycling though!

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🙁

It's not just when driving either. Walking glued to phone, in a meeting at work glued to phone, operating machinery glued to phone, out for a night out glued to the phone. Everywhere you look, mainly under 30s are glued to their phone. I think the future of the human species is doomed. I would love to shut down the mobile and wifi networks just for a week to see what would happen to these people.

It is a big problem and you will never stop it. Think it's 10 years or so since the penalties for using a mobile started including points as well as a fine but there are no police to enforce it.

After an incident yesterday, I've decided not to get bothered about other drivers again as long as they don't crash into me.

I was turning into a one way street ( the correct way 😉 ) in my local town centre and encountered a van coming up the wrong way. This has happened before as there is a small car park halfway along it and motorist do miss the One Way sign as they exit the car park as a local trader has a habit of parking his massive van in front of the sign..... ( OK they should remember but we are northern 😉 )

In the past, I have wound the window down and explained to the motorist they are going the wrong way. Everyone has been apologetic and either turned round or gone out really slowly.

Not this character. I got a load of abuse and was told to get out the way and mind my own business. ( I'm not after a ban so I won't type his exact words )

It would have taken him 20 seconds more to drive around the block to come out the correct way of the one way system. With an attitude like that, these people are just idiots full stop whether it be in a car, queuing at a supermarket, or just general day to day life.

Best to ignore them and get away from them.

I had the misfortune to walk down Deansgate in Manchester on Friday evening at rush hour this weekend, a horrible experience. More than half the people walking along were engrossed im their phone screens & totally unaware of their immediate surroundings.

I drive for a living and see it everywhere by almost everyone, really hate it. The worst seem to be anyone with a car that could be classed as a fashion accessory - so that's yummy mums in their SUV's, posers in their Audi's, but the worst is definitely young females in 500's/DS3's etc. They just have no concept of why what they're doing is wrong! Other delivery drivers are bad at it too, especially some of my colleagues but at least everyone knows that van driver = unpredictable. Strangely I've noticed that people with 'non-cars' like an old battered Peugeot or really old Luxobarges seem to not do it anywhere near as much.

You can also add the same people putting satnav's in the middle of the screen, stopping in ASL's etc. We really need more traffic cops to sort this blatant disregard for the rules an other people's lives out.

Doesn't work if you are cycling though!

Use it to your advantage, join i the conversation. Works well with cabrio's. I may have also been known to snatch the phone out of their hands and chuck it on the back seat on occasion too.. 😳

It'll never happen, but when I win the lottery I'll buy an old car, and crash into cars with drivers on the phone. Only slowly, so no one gets hurt, just a small dent. And when they start moaning I'll just point to their phone.
Like I said, it'll never happen so I just ignore them, and keep out of their way.

What can be done? Its endemic

raise the fines/penalties and put out lots of unmarked police cars with rear facing cameras, and then just pull them over and fine.

Would raise tons of money which I don't care if they put back into building the police force up. Rather have lots of police around than people exercising their illegal right to put everyone elses safety at risk.

Same for dodgy driving - maybe just feed the footage real-time to a central locaton where a desk of 'judges' convicts them immediately - would cut down on the paperwork.

I've taken to leaning on my horn if I see someone clearly not paying attention and on the phone. That's what it's for right?

As for enforcement? Apparently our local forces traffic dept has been cut by 95% in the last five years or so. It shows. I can't remember the last time I saw a traffic police car.

And don't get me started on lorry drivers on the phone.

Does my nut in. I'm getting more and more vocal/horn active at drivers on the phone lately.

Had a couple of good ones last week, guy not paying attention chatting on his phone on narrow lanes. Us coming the other way with the sheep trailer. He was at the back of 3 cars and had plenty of time to see us and stop in a previous passing place had he not been on his phone but instead he went right up the arse of the 2 in front stopping them from reversing and letting us through. Fortunately he had his window down when we got along side.

Then a mother with her baby in the back in a traffic jam on the M5. Driving slowly forwards in the queue with her head down texting. Big long blast on the horn as we got along side made her jump, she then got angry and asked why we beeped her and when I told her to get off her flipping phone she got all sheepish. Guy in front of her who had been watching her get closer to his back end thanked us as we passed him slowly.

Always leave yourself plenty of room in front when a berk behind is on their phone.

Had it one morning, busy traffic queuing into Derby, the third time the woman behind did it and jumped on her brakes I got out and suggested she stop it, she of course denied it, but the threat of me reporting her to the Police made her put it away. Stupid, utterly stupid.

All the more reason to avoid riding on roads...

I got a good look of surprise when the light went green and I pulled out and overtook the first car in the queue where the driver was texting instead of looking.

More policing plus ban for first offence is the way forward though. It's been proven to be as dangerous as driving at the legal alcohol limit so why are the penalties so light?

Speeding drivers can claim they drifted over the limit but a phone can't just drift into your hand.

I'm amazed how many folks I see doing it in modern cars and exec cars that by now MUST have bluetooth radio connections as standard. My shed of a car has it, are there really cars being released nowadays where it isn't factory fitted?

I know the argument is that being on the phone is distracting enough anyway but I'd rather have them talking but using hands for steering than holding the phone. I was following a car recently through town on my bike, so could clearly see through the back window and she had the phone to her left ear, and was changing gear with the right hand. Yes, across her body with no hands on the wheel. Amazing.

It makes me really rather cross and one day I will be out the car shouting like a loon .

Ditto

raise the fines/penalties and put out lots of unmarked police cars with rear facing cameras, and then just pull them over and fine.

Would raise tons of money which I don't care if they put back into building the police force up. Rather have lots of police around than people exercising their illegal right to put everyone elses safety at risk.

Indeed. Raise the penalty from £50 or whatever up to £1000 and a ban.

Drink driving used to be regarded as a minor infringement but sometime in the 70s/80s attitudes changed due to increased enforcement, higher penalties and , not least, an intense publicity campaign. Some people are so thick they need to be told at least ten times a day.
Maybe interrupt their sat nav with a claret strewn infomercial every time they stop at the lights....

It's the selfish nature of the general population... No particular regard for anything else or anyone else. It's also the sense of entitlement to behave in however they like even it means potentially endangering others.

I had to slow as a car edged out a junction, and the van behind didn't notice until the last minute, skidded, lost control and mounted the pavement, thankfully not near any pedestrians.

Yep, he was on his phone and it flew out of his hands into the footwell.

First thing he did was pick it up and carry on... omg

I was cycling my extended loop home from work on Tuesday and in a couple of sections its a single track road not wide enough for a vehicle and bike at the same time. Unluckily a landrover came round with a smaller horse box attached as well so a sizeable load on it. I had to completely unclip, get off and stand in the hedge to let it pass, as it pulled alongside me, he had his window fully open and a phone to his ear. He looked at me as if waiting for me to say thanks for slowing etc at which point i just stared at him and didnt utter a single word nor a smile. Every part of me wanted to say 'get off your ****ing phone before you kill one of us' but unfortunately riding alone as a woman I didnt want to face an angry bloke who could of easily laid me out. Made me properly angry!

I have almost kicked the crap out of one lad who took offense to me shouting "get off the effing phone" as he attempted to nudge my back wheel at a junction as he was texting/facebooking.
He soon backed down as I put my bike down and walked to his door as he realised 2 other drivers were shouting at him as they had been following his erratic driving for a couple of miles, one even apolagised for the other drivers behavior!!

Just got back in from a road ride. I was stopped at the traffic lights behind two cars, I was leaning on the railings to stay clipped in.

A car rolled up next to me. White Q3, woman in her early 30s driving (not judging - just scene setting), phone in hand.

Lights change, front two cars move off, Q3 doesn't move. Now, I want her in front of me where I can see her, not behind where she might run me over. After a few seconds she put her phone down and set off. No drama really.

However, about 1/2 mile up the road she was just getting out of her car after parking outside a shop. Completely on the footway right outside the doors probably because of the double yellow lines. The street view photo shows where she parked, fully blocking the footway.

Ironically, she was dressed in full gym kit but it was obviously too far to walk from the car park at the rear of the shop.

Some people will just never change their attitudes because they are so self centred.

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Apparently our local forces traffic dept has been cut by 95% in the last five years

I heard it was 100% and they (Devon & Cornwall) have more miles of roads than any other force.

Worst I have ever seen was a driver on the phone at a red light, my right filter was red too, his changed to green and he didn't move. I looked across and he was on his phone, his 3-4 year old son was STANDING on the front passenger seat with another one in the back standing on the rear seat.
I glared at him to be shouted at with a "what you ^&%&^& looking at". I just commented that his son was about to fall out of the window and that maybe he should get off the phone. He told his mate/solicitor/judge that "some **** in the car next to me told me to get off my phone"

M4 Westbound on Thurday afternoon. Dickhead in an Audi 4x4. Traffic was fairly light but he was in the outside lane at over 70. I could see him ahead of me wandering over the white lines to the middle lane.

Eventually he moved to the middle lane and I made sure i was in front of him. Sure enough, on his phone still when I passed him. Also running a space saver wheel on the front which is meant to have a 50mph limit.

I heard it was 100% and they (Devon & Cornwall) have more miles of roads than any other force.

Really? I wouldn't have thought there were more roads in Devon and Cornwall than Scotland. Every day's a school day.

I do the same as Jam Bo, lean on my horn, which on my Vectra is like a fog horn.

Highlight of me doing this was when I was doing it because a woman in a Mini was weaving all over the centre lane and nearly into me on M60 in the 50MPH zone, she looked at me and carried on yapping, giving me the fingers swearing at me, then an HGV did exactly the same thing on the inside of her, she s**t herself.

It appears people think it is acceptable to use the phone whilst driving, and they think that way because there is simply no real enforcement of the law. We, as a Nation, could increase the fine to £1000 and loss of licence and it would still happen because they believe they aren't doing anything wrong £ won't get caught anyway.
Take a look at how many people are happy enough to post selfies etc clearly taken whilst driving onto social media, they happily incriminate themselves because to them, they aren't doing anything wrong.

I think I get more angry now as I do more road miles and see so much more phone use. It is well proven that using a phone is a distraction , and coming up on a slow moving object ( cyclist ) whilst distracted is not a good thing.
I could generate thousands of pounds every day if I was a policeman, with an unmarked motorbike and some HD cameras
The DPD driver clearly texting on his mobile whilst driving up the M27 on wednesday in a 40T arctic. Idiot.
The guy in a Renault Kangoo who had his phone on the screen obscuring his face ( I could not see his left eye / cheek in my rear veiw mirror)

I think you are all correct ( first time on STW ) and we need points and fines that would be enough of a deterrant . 7 points and £350 , get caught twice and then you are in for a ban.

The last lady I spoke to, from my bike had her phone on her thigh , she implied she wasnt driving as she was in a traffic jam. I pointed out to her that if was OK and not illegal why was she keeping it out of sight of any passing police cars.

Every so often we hear a screech of brakes in the tractor, almost always someone on their phone getting a close up of the winch plate, no idea if anyone has actually hit it as we wouldn't feel it.

Van driver on a phone shortened our MX-5 by a fair bit.

Mostly horn, or on the motorway, orbiting too, as they seem to be stuck in the middle lane.

I drive 100 miles a day commute and have for 20 years....I cannot believe the driving I see and the use of the mobile phones

I passed a car driving erratically overtook really cautiously had a look expecting to see driver on a phone, which he was filming his female passenger performing a blow j*b on him,..... 😳

Baron, that shop is just down the road from me, it's an old pub with a massive car park at the back and the lazy so and so's always park right outside.

I will keep a look out for the idiot in the Q3 and avoid her.

What can be done? Its endemic

Regular, routine enforcement. Of all traffic offences.

And a two week driving ban for 6 points. No excuses, no avoiding it. If you can't get to work, tough, take some unpaid leave. Employer must keep job open for a first ban. Can't take Auntie Mabel to her hospital appointment, tough. Pay for a taxi. Can't take Jemima to pony club, tough, beg a lift from friends.

Make people realise how inconvenient it is to not have the use of their car and they might be more careful when they have it.

In the meantime, I find making the phone sign and shouting "Call me!" gets their attention and/or wrath!

I saw a guy in Oxford (on ring road) who was holding an iPad with both hands resting on the top of the wheel. He then put it down and threw a can out on the road (to offend as many STWers as possible).

Anyway must get back to concentrating on what's happening in front on the M25 and why someone honked me just now

I passed a car driving erratically overtook really cautiously had a look expecting to see driver on a phone, which he was filming his female passenger performing a blow j*b on him,.....

should have got in front of him and then performed an emergency stop (justifiably if possible) - reminiscent of that scene in The World According To Garp...

Simmy - I drive past it every morning and evening on the way to and from work and the parking is shocking. Pure laziness and entitlement given the car park round the back. The paper shop on the other side opposite the station is just as bad in the morning.

Yeah, they are too lazy to park correctly. Think it's their given right as most of them will be heading work on the industrial.

was on the news recently that it's worse in Scotland than the rest of the U.K., which wasn't a surprise...

As has been said,the number of folk you see doing it is ridiculous and I'm amazed the police don't dedicate unmarked resource just for this. It would pay for itself easily. It's the one reason I'd buy a commuta-cam but I wouldn't have time to edit and post em. That being said, my pal does and tweets stills to police Scotland with some success.

this is what happens if the driver behind doesnt pay attention

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-34969552 a nice little video, watch how far past all the stopped vehicles he travels, and somebody also died.

I see it frequently and the only conclusion I can draw is that the police, politicians and authorities just don't really care, it's a completely sensible law that's almost completely unenforced...

As others have said dedicated detection units would probably pay for themselves, but as we're living in austere times I reckon it would make sense to turn every dash cam and helmet cam owner into a phone **** detector:

Simple rules, let your camera run if you happen to capture actionable footage, no beeping or interaction with the driver should be attempted, no popping it on YouTube.
Email it directly to the rozzers, who tack an extra tenner onto the ****nut's fine which goes direct to the person who caught them...

Once they know there's incentivised "eyes everywhere" all but the stupidest drivers should clean up their act.... Right?

I like that idea cookeaa

People are shit. Next.

My old Windows Phone had a driving mode that could be activated by NFC when putting it into the Nokia car charger (did wireless charging too).

Would put music on bluetooth, open satnav and could be set to bump all calls to voicemail and give an automatic reply to texts saying "I'm driving right now, will get back to you later"

Phones all have acceleromoters/GPS now so the operating systems could be set to recognise driving conditions and turn certain connectivity off?

Hora - why is undertaking one of the two worst things to do to a driver? Surely tailgating is worse?

Its all down to the fact there's very little proactive enforcement. This goes for all driving offences.

You know that law that they introduced for middle lane hogging? Who can say it's actually made a difference...

A copper I know says, if he's not going to something urgent, he always pulls over drivers he sees using a phone or crossing a double white line. They get told that he's attended fatals caused by exactly that. The next bit is up to them.

The Courts could probably do a lot more to help. The driver in the above case was jailed for 2.5 years.

Research suggests its not the level of punishment that deters crime - its the chances of being caught. so to cut this sort of road crime then the chances of being caught need to be increased. thats more road policing. that then leads to daily wail headlines of " the war on drivers" - that the issue here. No political will to reduce lawbreaking on the roads.

Audi driver playing with his phone drove into the back of me on the M25. Wasn't making a call but fiddling with Google Maps, so no evidence (other than the fact that when I looked in the car his phone was on the passenger seat still turned on).

I see it frequently and the only conclusion I can draw is that the police, politicians and authorities just don't really care, it's a completely sensible law that's almost completely unenforced...

it is treated the same way as speeding, if it is too proactively enforced a lot of organisations and people start making a lot of noise

what is needed is someone/ a group in the public eye enough to care enough to lead the change, the enforcement will be cost neutral and you will be able to make handheld phone use as acceptable as drink driving

That video of the lorry is why I will always sit in the outside lane if possible when stuck in traffic and always leave a good gap in front of me if I'm at the back of the queue.

I drive once a year for a particular job every June. I'm hyper-critical of myself, often tell myself off for being out of practice, but after fifteen minutes this time, had seen three people driving on their phones, and realised no one else was really driving well or paying much attention. Outside of driving in central London, it's the first time I've felt I had to be as alert and paranoid as I would be on a bike.

**** the statistics, bad driving isn't being measured by starved police forces.

Last week a guy on his phone rolled over a zebra crossing in front of me as I was walking over it.

Me: "[word that is a colloquial term for masturbator]"
Him: "**** you!" as he gunned it away.

I went into Bedford police station with my SD card of a black Mecedes overtaking me whilst cycling on a country road, brushing against me and at the same time forced an oncoming car to take evasive action and end up off roading in a ditch.

They were simply not interested, said offence had to be witnessed by a police officer, I argued didn't stop Northampton police prosecuting the motorcyclist at a zillion MPH on his helmet cam though?

That is why I won't bother buying a dash can any time soon and will keep sticking them up on my facebook page.

I think the police are worried about vigilantes running the show.

tjagain - Member

I like that idea cookeaa

i reckon you'd end up with a few thousand bounty-hunters, making a living out of it!

(fine by me fwiw)

I find open baffles on a ZZR1400 when filtering work quite well to get them off the phone even when their window is closed......

I think the police are worried about vigilantes running the show.

Vigilantes are people who carry out their own "justice". Reporting them to the proper authorities so the correct course of action can be taken isn't vigilantism.

I think the police are just worried about having to do more work. I know a senior officer told a fellow cyclist who reported a bad driver "yes, that's bad, but if every time this happened it was reported and we prosecuted then we wouldn't get anything else done". Which doesn't strike me as a reason to not deal with the incident that [i]has[/i] been reported. They were basically scared that if they set a precedent by dealing with a reported crime effectively that other victims would start reporting 'their' crimes too.

There simply aren't enough Police on duty. Drive past the motorway Police station at the Preston exit of the M6 and you'll see twenty patrol cars, all parked and idle. Idiots know they have almost zero chance of being caught; I cycle with a couple of PCs and they tell me that on an average night Ribble Valley only has about 12 on duty and half of those go straight off to wasteful jobs like guarding prisoners in hospital. They tell me they know drink-driving is on the increase in rural areas but can't do anything about it.

Which is why they need a real-time feed from their cameras to a central desk of judges just rubber stamping the offenses - little paperwork resulting - can't argue with the video evidence.

Unmarked cars out on the motorway so no-one knows exactly how many are around.

I'd like a big electric banner on the rear window of my car that I can hit a button and it outputs pre-programmed messages:

ones that come to mind:
I'm undertaking you cos youre a class A kn0bby middle lane hogger, get left idjiot.
Get off yer bl00dy phone num nuts.

Shall I start a kick starter? We'll need an app for controlling it of course, hahahaha

[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Car-Red-LED-Programmable-Message-Sign-Scrolling-Display-Board-with-Remote/361430075843?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150313114020%26meid%3Dfe83fa146b0e4b14a75b2194cb44be2a%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D381330085978 ]Like this one you mean?[/url]

damn it , somebody beat me to it.

ti_pin_man - Member

I'd like a big electric banner on the rear window of my car that I can hit a button and it outputs pre-programmed messages:

ones that come to mind:
I'm undertaking you cos youre a class A kn0bby middle lane hogger, get left idjiot.
Get off yer bl00dy phone num nuts.

In all seriousness though, a quick toot on the horn, then repeat. After the third toot they figure it out.

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For a start I would give the police the right or rather the duty to take into their possession immediately any phone being used while someone is driving. Sim cards would then be destroyed and phones either sold and the money go back into enforcement or destroyed. Points on licence to be doubled for each subsequent offence.

It would be good to see phone records checked at any accident that the police are called to, in the same way that drivers can be breathalysed.

But the nature of modern smartphones means that just wouldn't be practical or conclusive.

I would add a set of signs to the cars the perps, as well as points.
A bit like the health warnings on fags, but advertising the misdemeanours they have been done for... And the consequences. A couple of months of a big set of signs saying 'This idiot used a phone when driving' or 'Numb nuts here sped outside a school's etc...

For a start I would give the police the right or rather the duty to take into their possession immediately any phone being used while someone is driving. Sim cards would then be destroyed and phones either sold and the money go back into enforcement or destroyed. Points on licence to be doubled for each subsequent offence.

I'd rather people hogged the middle lane all day than texted whilst driving, tbh.