Have you ever looked at your phone whilst driving?

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

Just that.

I see it daily, multiple times of the day. I live on a quiet residential street that has two nurseries and a primary school and many of the people I witness on their phones are driving with little children in the car.

I have never ever done it myself because there is no need. So who are the people who do? Where are you parents in my postcode who drive and look at your phones? Some of you will be regular posters on MN. Why do you do it?

I'm not expecting anyone to fess up tbh.

Yes, before it was illegal and before I had handsfree in my car. Obviously I don’t do it now, because I don’t want to get done for it.

It’s my sat nav. And I use Siri to send the odd text (so, completely by voice)

Only when I have it as my sat nav. It's mounted on the dashboard and I don't touch it unless I absolutely need to (like a quick tap to recenter the map)

I sometimes use it for music but have various playlists so it gets set up before I start driving and I don't touch it until I'm parked.

Yeah at lights I will check stuff but got new car with hands free so calls and messages come in on that now so not as much.

Even pulled over and parked but with your keys still in the ignition is enough to be considered as using your phone when driving.

And in Canada, someone with earbuds in connected to a dead phone was considered to be using their phone when driving.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/distracted-driving-phone-earbuds-court-bc-1.5092369

Yes, when I was completely stuck in traffic and the stupid Bluetooth into the car phone didn’t work and I had to phone nursery to let them know I would be late.

I used to. When I was young and silly. Don’t do it now with the kids in the car.

I don’t however see the issue with checking a text while sitting in a traffic jam

Once on the motorway we had come to a complete stop, hand brake on etc I phoned work to say I was gonna be late.
I have hands free anyway - it goes in the cradle but actually it’s less distracting if it’s in my bag. I have read a text at a red light or sent a very short one eg on way with it in the cradle only
I’m not capable of texting whilst driving so I wouldn’t bother

I use it for sat nav and it also works through my car, so I press a button on my steering wheel and ask it to call someone, equally if someone calls I answer by pressing the button on my steering wheel.

I got pulled over by the cops a couple of years ago 😬 I was sitting at lights with the hand brake on and car in neutral and I tapped the screen to look at my sat nav. Cop car came past in next lane and reversed back and told me off. Bloody lucky as I know I’d have been bang to rights if he’d booked me!

My mum called me today when she had my baby in the car

Her excuse 'I was at traffic lights'

That's my precious cargo in her car, it pisses me right off. I don't drive so it's not like I can take over the vehicle. Actually upsets me that my own mother would even consider it with her tiny granddaughter in the car!

Put it this way, if she ever does it again, my little girl won't be getting in her car again.

@SosigDog not because of safety then

Brit in the US, it’s legal in my state. So see it and do it, I also drink coffee, and eat while driving. Have also seen drinking beer while driving. (A truck beer is a thing here). Seatbelts are a legal requirement here but not in the next state

I don’t know about the UK but new cars here have apple car play

A few years ago i glanced never ever again i felt so unincontrol i dont answer calls when driving either unless in an emergency my mum knows if its literally life or death to ring me ill reject call and she has to ring straight back straight away I'll answer but weve had serious words about when appropriate i do drive long distance so could be out of contact for several hours otherwise.

Absolutely never. I despise people who do so. All of the 'only for a second' gang and 'just to see who a text was from' that is enough to cause an accident.

I recently bought a car where my driving seat is so much higher up and I can see into vehicles. It's terrifying how many idiots are doing it. Men driving vans almost all the time!

I was driving down a very steep hill in a queue of traffic recently, and the moron behind me was looking at his phone all the time. Every stop/start I had to toot my horn to get his attention so that he didn't drive into the back of me. 😡

I can't drive so wouldn't do it, but dh drives and wouldn't dare use his phone apart from as a Satnav when I am in the car. I think he is the same when on his own but I don't know for sure as I'm not there to see.

I do know someone who used to text all the time while driving (after the ban came in).

On the way to work one day they pulled out of a junction and hit and killed a guy on a motorbike as they didn't see him. They denied they were texting at the time but the last text sent was barely any time before they made the 999 call after the accident. The police couldn't prove they were texting at the time of the accident as they said they had sent the text while waiting at the junction, put the phone on the passenger seat then pulled out. No other witnesses to say if the phone was actually in use when it happened so the police couldn't prove they were using their phone at the exact time of the collision. I do know they used to text with others in the car and didn't put the phone down between times and would text at junctions, traffic lights etc so why would this journey be any different? But they denied they were texting at the exact time of the accident. They did get prosecuted, but on a lesser charge than they would have if it could be proven they were texting at the time, exchanged a man's life for a few hours community service.

Nowadays if I see someone in a car and using their phone illegally, I will hope their window is open and comment to them about it loud enough to be heard.

It is as deplorable as people not using seatbelts. If you are using your phone while driving you are more likely to injure or kill someone else than yourself, not wearing a seatbelt has more chance of killing or injuring you than using a phone has, but it can still injure or kill others, especially if you are sat in the back of the car and hit someone in the front. They are both risky things to do and the law should be adhered to.

I occasionally used to look at my phone in traffic jams if I had the hand brake on. I no longer do that now. Older and (a smidge) wiser!

I see a few people using them regularly, thinking they're being very subtle by having their phones down low and trying not to make it obvious they're looking, but it is fairly noticeable.

I remember reading about a university lecturer who asked students to put their phones away and then had to ask again, saying "nobody gazes determinedly at their crotch for so long during a lecture unless they're on their phone"!

You're right, it's very obvious and I don't know why people think they're being subtle. I also see this all the time and it really irritates me, especially as these people are distracting themselves on two counts. 1) using their mobile 2) trying to appear as though they're not using their mobile. It actually seems to make them doubly oblivious to surroundings and even more dangerous because their head is at such an odd angle for driving.

No as I don't drive unless hiring a car on holiday.

There needs to be a proper sanction if caught and the police have powers to take your phone off you straight away, until you appear in court. Losing your phone number for a few days and all the contacts in your phone would be a far better sanction than a fine.

My phone connects to my car so I have no need. If a call comes through I can answer from the steering wheel and I only answer if it's family and I may be needed. If I'm driving I say I'll call them back. I don't text or anything and have a satnav built into my car.

I also make use of the iPhone driving restriction setting on my phone so it doesn't beep texts through if I'm driving.

I was going to say no, never. But actually on thinking about it I have done when I was stuck in a huge traffic jam because I messaged to say I'd be late home. Whilst I know that in the eyes of the law that's still illegal, I was sitting on the motorway, hadn't moved for half an hour and didn't even have the engine running, so there's no way I was endangering anyone.

Never. I was late to mobile phones and always kept them in my handbag in the boot. The phone is sometimes charging in the cabin but I have bluetooth now though still prefer to pull over to talk to the caller.

I have but I was in a long queue to pay to go over the Severn bridge so was stationary most of the time. I wouldn't look at it otherwise.

Don’t you all have talking satnavs? That’s the only bit I use (admittedly, mostly because I can’t read maps anyway )

Can you talk to Google maps? I use that as I find it more up to date than my sat nav device.

No. I can’t stand it when I see other people do it, either.