Reporting drivers on their phones

[Snitchyorwitchy]

Simple as this - we cycle to school. We live in an area with lots of cyclists, including children under 10 cycling with parents.

I have a helmet camera.

The local police have an online submission tool.

Everyday I'd say about 10% of drivers are on their phones in moving but slow traffic. There have been numerous near misses as a result of "distracted" driving.

I don't need to go into the details of how dangerous this is (if you don't believe me, just Google), even if in standstill traffic the distraction continues.

You are not being unreasonable = submit it to police - it's law, it is safety of you and your and other children.

You are being unreasonable = leave it to the police to catch people themselves.

So would I. Phones are full of distractions and pings. They need to be put away altogether while driving.

So you basically think that children shouldn’t be allowed out alone, ever? They are imperfect pedestrians and they make errors. Same with old people. It’s motorists’ responsibility to be hyper vigilant and make sure they can’t cause an accident EVEN IF a pedestrian behaves in a not-ideal manner.

(Sorry, that was directed at Chocolateeggs, not the poster who was responding to her)

www.brake.org.uk/get-involved/take-action/mybrake/knowledge-centre/mobile-phone-use

Me

www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law the circumstances you have described are illegal

@CouldIHaveThatInEnglishPlease www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law the circumstances you have described are illegal

Greenfinch, are you also OK with cyclists 'quickly' using a pavement that's forgivable, right?

Check again...all of those things you mentioned that you do are illegal

Think about the knock on effect it would have on a member of the community if someone killed someone because they were paying attention to their phone instead of the road

Some do, some don't.

Keep doing this OP.

I'd wish the penalty was other than just a fine and points. I'd love the people concerned to lose their phone number, which would be such an inconvenience to many that it would be an additional deterrent.

I once reported another driver who was messaging whilst driving, holding his phone horizontally across the steering wheel. He cut me up at one point without indicating - there were two lanes of traffic.

I reported it to 101. I had his reg, description and the time I saw him. A police officer actually came to speak with me at work and basically said they'd spoken to him, but they weren't prepared to check CCTV or his phone records so it was my word against his. I told the officer that was a pathetic response from the police and he agreed with me!

@CouldIHaveThatInEnglishPlease Now that you have been told and shown (quite kindly in my view) that you are driving whilst using your phone illegally. Will you now change your ways and keep your hands free from your phone?

( Siri is perfectly capable of finding tracks and podcasts and if you programme your say Nav correctly when you set out, you shouldn’t need to touch it til you reach your destination. I have driven from Exeter to York without touching my sat Nav.)

thanks very much

So you’re saying people should go to jail for just touching their phone? For 1, prisons are drastically overcrowded and underfunded because people are being sent there for reasons that don’t warrant a prison sentence. For 2, you’re delusional.

Not about mobile phone use as such but I reported some dangerous driving via the police portal and sent in dash cam footage. The driver was prosecuted and I had to act as witness in court. They didn’t turn up 🙄 and were found guilty in absentia.

so no, I think YANBU to report bad driving.

So by that logic, a person who walks into the road because they’re not paying attention and gets hit isn’t responsible because the driver should have super human reflexes and be able to prevent that?

If they touch their phone and kill someone as a consequence of them being distracted then that’s death by dangerous driving so yes they should go to prison. And don’t start saying it doesn’t happen because it does. I know.

Who’s talking about someone being killed? It was stated by you or the person above that if people touch their phones while driving then they should go to prison.

@Devoutspoken yes, if a cyclist carefully and slowly uses a pavement that no one is currently walking on, while looking carefully and being aware of any possible pedestrians, I am fine with that. I am strongly in favour of common sense.

As an aside, as a driver it pisses me off that I can't report dangerous driving when I'm driving!

I followed a car that was weaving all over the road so I called the police on 101 while I was behind it (hands free obviously!) and was told they couldn't take my report, I needed to submit it online! I didn't bother

My car has twiddly knobs.
If I set a podcast running through the Bluetooth gadget it's untouched until I arrive at my destination.
I got some excellent footage of a driver using his phone on my rear dashcam yesterday. I have literally no idea how to get it off and uploaded to the police site but I'm determined to figure it out. He deserves the book being thrown at him.

Mine has twiddly knobs for the heating and a central twiddly knob that does everything else. If I want to change my playlist I just ask Siri to do it for me.

@MoMandaS yeah, it does sound like the route needs looking at, one of my godsons goes to college on a college bus. It varies during the week how busy the bus is, virtually empty Fridays!! He doesn't go Tuesdays (no classes) etc

but irrespective the driver needs reporting, it's not just the kids in the coach it's ALL other road users & pedestrians. He could easily knock a cyclist off or hit a pedestrian.

if he lost his job (sadly spectacularly unlikely) he'd only have his own choices to blame!!

I see this all the time as a driver and pedestrian - please do report.

All types of drivers seem to do this but I see so many moped delivery drivers weaving along glued to their phones and am amazed there aren't more accidents.