Driving while using a mobile versus drink driving

[Hammy02]

Is it just me or are other people disgusted when they see people using a mobile phone while driving? There still doesn't seem to be the same level of disgust levied at someone using a mobile while driving as there is at drink-drivers. Studies have shown that it can be as dangerous as drink-driving. I can never understand how a call can be so important that it can't wait???

But mobile use is a multiple hazard.

Not only do you have a hand off the wheel but you are presumably being distracted by the (no doubt very important ) phonecall
which could last for ages.
You are also not observing what's going on around you properly.

i think you need to collect your thoughts

are you suggesting that you report me to the police in case i drive without due care and attention?

ha ha ha ha ha ha

In Canada, we call it driving while under the influence, so if a police officer even suspects you of drunk driving/stoned driving (and in BC, that happens a lot) you can have your car towed and licensed suspended for 24 hours without a breathalizer or blood test. Studies here also show that eating while driving causes more accidents then DUI drivers but I reckon that has to do with the fact that there are more people driving and eating throughout the day, while DUI-ers are usually at night. DUI is also a hefty fine now and with our practically zero tolerance, (.05% Blood/Alcohol) you are now going to get your vehicle towed, and up to $4000 in fines and a year long license suspension. After that, you have a breathalizer installed in your vehicle that you need to breath into before you can start your car and must breathe into every 10 minutes. My friend has this. It was hard for her to tell her daughter why. Driving while using an electronic device that is not handsfree (things like MPV players/Ipods etc) is now illegal too and the police are really cracking down on this and even sending out written warnings to drivers with infractions sighted from other drivers and them taking down license plate numbers. If you are in a car accident, you are required as well to hand over your license, registration and cell phone.

A car is a lethal weapon. When the user is under the influence of anything they are willingly using that weapon dangerously in public. People need to get their heads out of their asses and stop being so fucking self-important. That phone call/sandwich/drink can wait or pull over if indeed it cannot. I want to get home to my family in one piece, thank you.

That was for Rannaldini - not you Kaloki!

I don't change CDs or fiddle with radios etc. either when driving.

I also dislike people yabbering away in my ear when I need to concentrate.

Mobile phone usage(whether actually making a call or just holding it to your ear or fiddling) is an offence and it came from the very general offence of not being in proper control whilst driving a vehicle. This offence still applies -so reading a map, etc is still an offence if it can be shown you were not in proper control.

I don't think you can argue inattention whilst driving is a good idea. It is only luck that prevents a fatality each time.

i think you are somehow missing the point
i'm not arguing it's a good idea
far from it

but lots of things are distractions
it's easy to get on a high horse over one but happily do another

i don't think they are disgusting is all
ill advised yip
disgusting nope

Depends on the definition of disgusting:

1. Revolting and making you feel sick.....or,

2. Shocking and unacceptable

Driving and using a mobile falls under definition 2 IMHO

If the missing the point was aimed at me, then I was agreeing with you, you buffoon

Yesterday I spotted that the guy driving right in front of me was talking on a hand-held phone. I had no choice but to follow him for nearly 40 minutes through speed limits that varied from 20mph to 50mph.

He continued to talk for the entire time and his car was all over the place. He braked unexpectedly and accelerated in inappropriate places, and for much of the time he had no hands on the wheel - one hand holding the mobile phone and the other gesticulating.

I can only say that I am glad I was behind him, not in front of him!

Must try out the pombear before I go!

And I think you are missing the point that most people consider deliberately endangering others when it is completely unnecessary is disgusting behaviour.

people generally aren't deliberately endangering others
they do so but it in most cases it isn't deliberate

ill thought through
unwise
rash
accidental

but until it's too late they don't consider their actions
rabble rousing focus on mobiles draws attention from all the other issues

Ranna, yes they do by deliberately picking up a mobile phone!

Mobiles are an easy way to show this lack of control - other diversions are not so obvious. It is absolutely right that users should be targeted but so should those who apply make-up, turn to talk to children in the back or read a map.(and they are).

If I get in my car with a dodgy headlight or brakes because I don't know about it, and I have an accident, I am still responsible for the accident, but I didn't deliberately set out to do something illegal. That cannot be said about mobile use. If my 7yr old screams and my instant reaction is to to turn round to see why, that is instinctive. If I answer my phone it isn't.

There are loads of things that could contribute to accidents but most of them are not 'deliberate' in that we choose to do them even though we know we shouldn't.

She's not still trying to defend the indefensible by listing all sorts of other traffic offences, is she?

FFS. Give it up Rann.

coming back to name call perhaps?

maybe just maybe if you read some opinion other than ranted on like the mail you could see the point i'm making

No, you know exactly what I think of anyone who even tries to defend driving whilst on your mobile, so I shan't repeat myself.

Do you honestly think that the posts on here that have called your opinion on the matter into question are nothing more than rants? Your point about it being dangerous is spot on, but stop listing other traffic offences as if they somehow negate the ignorant, selfish and downright dangerous behaviour of people who continue to drive and talk on a phone. They are not mutually exclusive.

Nobody actually knows yet whether she was texting/phoning/trying to view the internet on her mobile because it was found two hundred yards down the road and the girl in question died 5 mns after the crash. When they've got the mobile phone records and the inquest has been held we will know what she was doing on her mobile. The point is not whether or not what she was doing was legal- the point is, was it sensible? Since she swerved into the path of oncoming traffic and caused a multiple pile-up, we can only surmise that whatever it was she was doing was NOT sensible.

YANBU
I saw a guy driving yesterday while chatting on his mobile and having a fag!
feckin criminal
focus on the road ffs