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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Mobile use while driving

261 replies

FarAwayHills · 31/10/2016 16:35

I am so cross and fed up of seeing people using their phones while driving Angry I counted 5 today on a pretty short journey. Having read the news today regarding the tragic death of a mum and her 3 children due the a lorry driver using his phone, I am insensed that people continue to do this. What the hell can be that important.

I am not a technical person but could there be some way that devices could be automatically disabled while a vehicle is being driven. It seems like the only way because people just can't help themselves and fines and penalties are clearly not working.

AIBU to think more needs to be done about this?

OP posts:
lastqueenofscotland · 31/10/2016 16:36

Well it is being turned into a 6 point offence in the new year so it is being taken seriously.

YANBU though.

ditzychick34 · 31/10/2016 16:37

No not u at all, maybe we could shove their phones up their arses followed by the car then maybe they won't try to kill people with pure stupidity

YouTheCat · 31/10/2016 16:38

I'm unsure as to what the current punishment is.

I'm sure if private vehicles were crushed for a second offence that might deter some of these idiots.

There is nothing so important that a text or call has to be made immediately.

PinkSwimGoggles · 31/10/2016 16:39

yanbu
it's so dangerous!
but if if's not regularly enforced shitheads will keep doing it.

ExitPursuedBySpartacus · 31/10/2016 16:41

I have been thinking along the same lines. Unable to use a phone whilst the engine is switched on.

Dd is just learning to drive. I dread the distraction of her phone when she is out alone.

WaitrosePigeon · 31/10/2016 16:42

I also watched that video today. I felt sick.

The problem is there is nobody really ever around to catch people doing it.

I'm tempted to start taking pictures of the offending number plates myself but then I would be just as bad!

PortiaCastis · 31/10/2016 16:44

Crash on the A34 in August killed 3 children and their Mum because a fucking moron was using his phone.
He got 10 years this morning. Only 10 years for 4 lives. !!!!!!!

gillybeanz · 31/10/2016 16:45

You could try to report them if you get their number. I'm not sure if it will make any difference, but have heard it does if you report a dangerous driver.
This is driving dangerously.

gillybeanz · 31/10/2016 16:48

I wouldn't crush the car as it could be sold on, with the money going to charity.
The driver should just lose their license, for good.
If they injure somebody or cause a fatality imprisonment.

mum2Bomg · 31/10/2016 16:49

I report them all the time (I car share) especially the tw*t watching an iPad on the M25!

megletthesecond · 31/10/2016 16:50

Yanbu.

They should have a lifetime ban for first offence. Everyone knows it's deadly. No excuses.

Sparklesilverglitter · 31/10/2016 16:50

I often see people on the motorway with mobiles to there ear, it makes me angry too espically with hand free kits being so good these days

specialsubject · 31/10/2016 16:52

scared shitless the other day by the guy pulling out on a roundabout in his full-sized artic, yes, waving his phone around.

once upon a time lorry drivers were the best. Now they are a bloody menace. Of course a car driver can kill too while making that oh-so-important call.

no excuse. Phone can only be used when parked and engine off. Even hands free.

should be five-year ban for first offence, lifetime for second. Lost job? Can't get where you want to go? Shame.

tell your kids that the phone is OFF while they drive.

Spudlet · 31/10/2016 16:53

I was thinking about this just now. Why don't phones have a driving mode, like flight mode but still allowing functions like gps for sat nav apps? I agree that stronger penalties are required but I'm also a believer in nudging people in the right direction. You could even code navigation apps so that they wouldn't work unless the phone was in driving mode.

lalalalyra · 31/10/2016 16:54

I think we're too reluctant to ban people from driving forever. Driving isn't a right; and it's not totally essential to survival so if you can't be trusted to do so responsibly you shouldn't be allowed.

If you kill 4 people by not paying attention you should never be allowed to drive again (as well as the prison sentence). I know someone who has just been done for drink driving for the THIRD time - no way should they ever get their license back.

I'm glad it's going up to 6 points. It's something that doesn't seem to have any social stigma. It's almost like people are amused when someone is daft enough to get caught, rather than being horrified. It should become something that people are disgusted by - like drink driving.

Beatsretreats · 31/10/2016 16:55

I was on my phone whilst driving today but I was calling the police.

At least two people beeped me and motioned at me to put it down. The tide is turning against it.

LikeDylanInTheMovies · 31/10/2016 16:58

Spud there's no need, you just don't answer your phone when it rings when you're driving. What are the chances that the people who currently flout the law would put their phone into this 'driving mode' anyway?

Onenerfwarfrombreakdown · 31/10/2016 16:58

Seeing and hearing the statement made by the (bio) mother of one of the 3 children killed by that Lorry driver (the people who died were a Mum, her two young boys and her stepdaughter) on the lunchtime news today was absolutely heart rending. I listened in tears.
Ban the fuckers forever and lock them up.

DeleteOrDecay · 31/10/2016 17:03

YANBU at all, I hate seeing it and I hate driving near someone else on the roads who is using their phone whilst driving and putting everyone around them at risk. It's so dangerous, the problem is that some people are so cocky, they think it will never happen to them, until it's too late of course.

Original poster
FarAwayHills · 31/10/2016 17:05

I agree that the increase to 6 points is a step in the right direction but it's still not enough. I still wonder if technology could be developed to automatically disable phone use, except for emergency calls, while a car is being driven - especially for HGVs.

OP posts:
GeorgeTheThird · 31/10/2016 17:09

"I was on my phone whilst driving today but I was calling the police."

It doesn't matter who you were calling. You should have pulled over.

Spudlet · 31/10/2016 17:11

Obviously you shouldn't answer your phone, but equally obviously many people do without thinking. If incoming calls were disabled those people wouldn't be picking the phone up.

booklooker · 31/10/2016 17:13

. I still wonder if technology could be developed to automatically disable phone use, except for emergency calls, while a car is being driven

But you can't really stop passengers in the car from using their phones.

orangebird69 · 31/10/2016 17:17

Why shouldn't I be able to answer my phone in my car when I have built in Bluetooth?

BecauseIamaBear · 31/10/2016 17:18

I was driving down the A12 t'other day..
There was an exhaust box from a lorry on the dotted lines between the first and second lanes. It was big enough to cause a significant accident if someone driving a car hit it.. Or if it was flipped out the way by a lorry and hit a car..

I didn't have a hands free..

Should I call the police to alert them of a significant danger and help prevent an accident?