To think that mobile phone use while driving has become so widespread that it's viewedby many as aacceptable?

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

It's so making.

I was stuck on traffic this morning and had noticed a few users, so decided to do a quick survey. NINE out of 47 drivers coming past were obviously on their phone just pulled off from traffic lights. Texting or touching on the screen in some manner or just chatting with it at their ear. One was on eBay!

That's awful isn't it? How do people justify it to themselves?

I'm not sure it's considered acceptable but certainly lots of people do it. Even hearing my phone ring from the footwell of the passenger seat is distracting so how people think they can talk (or text!) while driving I don't know. Maybe they have a higher higher opinion of their driving than I do.

I don't even like hands-free kits because when you're talking on the phone your attention is with the other person not on the car. I think talking to a passenger in the car is different plus they can see the driving conditions and shut up if necessary.

What scares me is more often than not people are typing when I see them on their phone

Yes, the texting is horrendous - or keying in someone's no to phone.

I have been known to pretend to take photos of people doing this if I'm a pedestrian or passenger .

It's so dangerous, I actually saw a van driver going round a corner with a phone in his hand.

First offence should be crush the phone. Second offence crush the car and the phone.

Third offence .........

The problem is no one has yet come up with any technology which is simple and cheap, and allows you to use a phone without needing to hold it to your face.

So you can't really blame these people.

I live in a country where it isn't illegal to talk on your phone whilst driving, my dp is a lorry driver and he has a personal phone and a work phone, in the company he works for all the drivers chatted on their phones, often calling each other just for a chat to pass the time of day.

I bought my dp a headset so he can talk on the phone without taking his hands off the wheel, his bosses were so impressed by this revolutionary idea that they refunded the cost of the headset and bought one for all their drivers.

It is pure madness, this country has a zero tolerance to alcohol when driving but your free to chat on your phone all you want!

Actually I think we can blame them. It isn't difficult to pull over in a safe place or just ignore.

I once had someone complain about me at work because I declined a meeting request which he'd scheduled after the end of my working day, when I would be halfway through a more than 2 hr drive home. He didn't understand why I couldn't just dial in on my company mobile.

Allotment: I was about to say about that incident, it was on one of those traffic cop shows as well and I remember the entire bit and sitting watching it absolutely horrified as the police arrived at the scene, spoke to the lorry driver and others and found the phone. If it wasn't the same it was very similar. That put me off of the idea of driving and texting for life.

it is all illegal, why isn't it being enforced?

I carry a mobile while driving (in case of breakdown/problem) but it is in my bag if it isn't off. I would never answer it.

too much leniency here. Should be first offence, instant ban. There is no excuse for anyone touching their phone while driving. I really don't like people using handsfree either.

Because of work I spend a lot of time in a particular city (outside the UK) where there are people from all over the world living and working, and l find that mobile phone usage while driving is absolutely rife among people who are not from northern Europe generally, and even more rife among people of some specific nationalities. (which I won't name, obviously.) Their countries just don't seem to have had the same effort put into promoting awareness of the dangers and when they drive in the UK they carry on as if they were still in the country where they learnt to drive. It's illegal in the place I am talking about as well but no-one seems to give a damn. Their convenience or constant need for entertainment/company and a bit of light distraction comes first. It's truly terrifying to witness, especially as they drive really fast.

I detest people who drive whilst on their phones.

Not long after I passed my test someone pulled out of a junction right into the side of me and actually pushed me across the oncoming lane and onto the pavement. The driver was on the phone.

It really knocked my confidence behind the wheel for ages

LittleDidSheKnow it's illegal to download pirate copies, smoke weed and park on double yellows too.

Hands free kits are not the answer either. Your attention is still divided even if you have both hands on the wheel.

I think this will begin to change soon as the Traffic police have a new policy of checking phone records after all RTIs and not just when there is someone KSI (killed or serious injured). The message will hopefully start to get through that if you have any accident on a journey where you have been texting or phoning then you will probably be held responsible as inferences about your driving will be drawn.

i agree with OP that it makes me that any driver can put some text/call ahead of someone else's life, when all they have to do is pull in if they really need to speak to somebody.

A 19yo girl killed herself on the road not far from here, about 5 minutes after she'd left home, because she was texting on her phone. She just wasn't paying enough attention to the road, missed the bend and hit a tree. Such a waste.

LurkingHusband - I assume you're taking the piss???? We all survived pre-mobiles. There is not ONE reason that requires anyone to talk on a phone while driving. Not one.

Don't answer it, pull over, switch off. But don't risk other people's lives answering a phone or a text that can wait. It can always wait. If you can't live without your phone, sell your car.

Pixie, it was the same incident. I lived in Basingstoke at the time. It was utterly devastating for all involved. Tragic waste of a young life.

I don't understand why it isn't enforced more anyway. People are so blatant about it, all the police would need to do would be to station themselves by a busy road for an hour to get themselves several easy arrests.

They do every now and again, as they do with speeding, but they're just aren't enough of them to catch all the self-entitled wankers who drive while using their phones.

I've seen people driving and using ipads at teh same time - and this was down a school road!

I've seen people driving and using ipads at the same time - and this was down a school road!

Oooh, how did I do that? The second one posted with the spelling correction.

I know a young girl who boasts about texting whilst driving. I told her she was 'a disgrace and should grow up or not have a car!'