Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

And people are STILL using their mobile phones whilst driving!

62 replies

Janey50 · 03/04/2017 02:33

AIBU (I don't think I am) to be getting totally pissed off with the number of drivers that I see driving and texting/talking on a hand-held phone? Despite the recent changes in the law introducing tougher penalties for those caught doing this,and all the publicity concerning road accidents caused by people using phones whilst driving,STILL it goes on. Barely a day goes by without me witnessing at least one incident,usually more. Only this evening I while I was waiting at a bus stop,I saw a man nearly drive through a red light because he was looking at his phone! Will people never learn?

OP posts:
ThouShallNotPass · 03/04/2017 10:10

I think every person who gets behind the wheel needs to watch this.

WhispersOfWickedness · 03/04/2017 10:13

YANBU, the other day I saw someone on the phone driving a tractor with a trailer round the bend on a tight crossroads, ffs Angry

scaryteacher · 03/04/2017 10:18

It's the bloody lorry drivers that do this that bug me, especially those from abroad. Nearly got hit on the M25 by a Spanish twat who was too busy on his phone to check his mirror and note that I was in the lane alongside him as he started to pull out.

DonttouchthatLarry · 03/04/2017 10:21

Saw one in the middle lane of the M6 yesterday Shock. The tractor drivers round here can often be seen on their phones too.

BlurryFace · 03/04/2017 10:23

I know of one person who does Pokémon Go at the wheel constantly and as a pedestrian I use the different coloured cars to teach the lads their colours and see loads of people eating, applying make up etc at the wheel. It makes me quite nervous as the narrow roads here mean cars often mount the pavement to let large vehicles (not just lorries, anything as large as a standard people carrier) pass - what if one day the driver mounting the pavement is on their phone and doesn't see me and the kids?Sad

MorrisZapp · 03/04/2017 10:28

I overheard two young women discussing the best way for one of them to dump her boyfriend.

'I'll phone him when I'm driving, that'll be easier because I won't be that focused on it'

The other one nodded sagely.

glenthebattleostrich · 03/04/2017 10:44

Blue, i used to work on the help desk for a utility company and they will take it seriously. They aren't even supposed to use hands free

ExplodingCarrots · 03/04/2017 10:46

I see people on their phones everyday. The amount of people who have flown past a zebra crossing at the school (with the lollipop lady there) while people are waiting to cross is shocking. One was even brushing their teeth at the wheel the other day Angry

Oldraver · 03/04/2017 10:49

Yes...we travelled up the M1 the other week and was really shocked to see how many were using phones...I did get a bit obsessed by it and had to stop myself from clocking everyone.

You can usually tell from behind....flatbed truck who couldn't keep in a straight line... when we passed him he had his phone in BOTH hands with his wrists on the steering wheel. You could also tell the ones who had their phone on the knees

Oldraver · 03/04/2017 10:58

Also while on the M1...My OH has an unusual 5 letter surname that we have on the number plate yea I know, an MN no-no.

One branch of his family also have a haulage firm, and we were about to pass one of the trucks...OH joked "wonder if they will clock the plate". Only the driver was far to engrossed in his phone to notice anything

ThouShallNotPass · 03/04/2017 11:02

I'd happily send in dash cam footage to police if it meant the idiots would get fined. In fact, giving the reporting member of public, say, a tenner each time from the fines revenue with every successful ticketing would end mobile phone usage whilst driving pretty sharpish.

scoopmuckanddizzyrollytoo · 03/04/2017 11:02

Mumbot i have also seen this, gave me a he heave just thinking what would happen with just a little bump.

PinkHeart59156816 · 03/04/2017 11:07

Some People are idiots, they think that phone call text/message is more important than everyone else safety. They just think it won't be them that gets killed/caught

It's like drink driving isn't it, years of money put in to education telling people not to drink and drive and some stupid idiots still think that doesn't apply to them

HollyJollyDillydolly · 03/04/2017 11:41

I saw this on Facebook a while ago. It's quite interesting to see how much looking away for a second can make you unsafe.

dustarr73 · 03/04/2017 11:42

Texting while driving is the new drink driving.You can see a mile away,cause they're looking at their crotch.The amount of them that sail through light's is another thing that grinds my gears.

Willow2017 · 03/04/2017 12:06

Watched this recently its heartbreaking and straight to the point.

Meekonsandwich · 03/04/2017 12:13

Stupid people do not know they are stupid :)

MadisonAvenue · 03/04/2017 12:15

You can spot them straight away, looking down at their laps when their eyes should be on the roads. Makes me so angry.

dustarr73 Yes! Traffic lights at junctions and pedestrian crossings, I seem to see so many get ignored now. I'm sure it didn't used to be this bad. Just the other day I had the right to cross at a crossing, the green man was lit up, and a car was coming along the road and it was obvious that she wasn't going to stop. She would've had clear view of the lights from quite a distance away too.

McPie · 03/04/2017 12:33

I see so many drivers on the phone when I'm out on my runs you would think that the campaign never even happened!
My Dh got pulled up at work for not answering his phone and his response was 1 I'm not the team leader, phone him instead as he doesn't drive and will always be available and 2 I view using a phone whilst driving as bad as drink driving so I'm not going to do it. They still phone him, he still ignores it whilst driving but the have not pulled him up on it again!

RainbowsAndUnicorn · 03/04/2017 13:03

It should be an automatic ban, remove licences for six months at least. Current deterants aren't obviously enough.

MargaretCavendish · 03/04/2017 13:19

I think we should tell people not just to not do it, but to remove all temptation. Put your phone on the back seat, or even in the boot. I've started doing this - I would have said 'I never use my phone while driving', but the truth is I would 'occasionally' glance down at texts or emails (never send them), rationalising it as urgent, a one-off and only done when I knew conditions were 'safe' (e.g. v slow moving traffic). But it wasn't a one-off, it was something I actually did quite frequently, if I was honest with myself, and there are no completely safe circumstances to use a phone while in charge of a car. Now I put my bag on the back seat not the passenger seat so it's just not possible to 'quickly check'.

user1471537877 · 03/04/2017 13:24

Neighbour is a police detective who persistently drives with his phone on his lap which I first saw from upstairs and have since seen repeatedly

Mentioned this to the local pcso's who were on the street on another matter only 2 weeks ago

Response was oh well I'm sure he will get picked u eventually, they just were not interested

Makes me so mad as a retired theatre nurse having been involved with some horrible rta's

It's the arrogance that a person paid to uphold the law feels he himself is above that law

TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 03/04/2017 13:27

What is the law regarding hands-free phones? I've got a little holder for my phone - if the phone is in there can I touch it even for a second to skip a song/move the sat nav/answer an incoming call? Because that's the same as changing radio stations etc. I take it you aren't allowed to programme Google maps or something when it's in the holder, though.

Instasista · 03/04/2017 13:29

TBH I think YABU to be so het up. It's just a waste of energy. Of course most people won't get caught, most of the time any class of traffic infringement goes unenforced. The police can't be everywhere and it is of course a low priority for them.

You seem to have expected everyone would stop using phones and driving because a new law/ increased punishment came in. That's not really realistic is it?

FitzChivalry · 03/04/2017 13:33

I walk the school run in the morning facing steady moving traffic and the amount of people on phones or doing make up in the rear view mirror makes me so angry. I'm very tempted to mount my go pro to my forehead then send then post the footage to the local police Facebook page.

Swipe left for the next trending thread