AIBU to believe that using your phone while driving is absolutely unacceptable?

[Anonymous2003]

The other day the topic came up about how so many people nowadays seem to send texts, take Snapchats and video themselves while behind the wheel. My friend expressed that she uses her phone all the time while driving and would use Snapchat and watch TikToks while on the motorway... She said it so noncholently too as if this was no big deal. I was horrified and told her I thought that was a terrible thing to do. I do think it's different if you're sitting with the handbrake on in a long queue of traffic or at a red light which is taking ages... But in a moving vehicle to me is different. However I have seen more and more of this behaviour on the likes of YouTube shorts with people videoing themselves while driving or sending photos of themselves behind the wheel, is this just something that a lot of people do now???

I see so many people on their phones whilst driving & it makes me so angry. A teenage girl was knocked off her scooter & killed locally because another girl decided she couldn’t wait until she’d stopped driving to send a text. A senseless, completely preventable death. I can’t remember what the punishment was but it certainly was nowhere near enough.

Wow! And you really think that is safe and you’re fully concentrating on the road. Unbelievably dangerous and hugely ignorant!

It’s not ok ever. Not waiting at lights and not on motorway. And the reason is that it distracts you. Research states that the distraction lasts a few seconds after you’ve looked at your phone and in stationary traffic people pull away without checking mirrors which is dangerous for motorcyclists and cyclists. And even in slow moving traffic people on their phones tend to drift in the lane.

There were lots of discussions about this some years ago when they were proposing legislation to ban the use of phones while driving. They (the government panel) came to the conclusion that there is a big difference between talking to a passenger while driving and being on the phone, the latter taking much more concentration. IMO that would apply to listening to audiobooks too.

People have been killed by people like your friend using phone on a motorway.

I see loads of drivers on their phone as I cycle to and from work.

About 50% of the risky driver interactions I have are related to phone use. It's very worrying.

When I drive I only listen to the radio/ podcasts/ audiobooks. My small cheap 9 year old car has the capability for the stream media from my phone very easily. It's akin to using the car radio and my phone is almost always in my handbag on the floor behind the drivers seat.

There's no excuse to use your phone while driving unless it's something like you're being chased by a lunatic in another vehicle, and you're genuinely calling for help and there's no other options, and you don't have hands free (I don't) but even then I'd be putting it on speaker and on the passenger seat and keeping the distraction as minimal as possible, and only if i were somewhere that driving to help was impractical or impossible and genuinely feared for my life.
Mine is within grabbing distance, in the centre console and would hopefully stay there in a crash (God forbid) so if I couldn't get out, I could reach it to call for help.
I do play Spotify through it, but I clear the app and lock the screen before setting off so there can be no chance that it's mistakenly thought I've been using it - leaving the app open and running and screen unlocked (I've heard) even when not touching the phone at all can show the data as the phone in use, and can get you into trouble if it's investigated.

There's no reason to be looking at or handling your phone while driving - if it's not voice activated then it should remain unused until you stop, safely.

This, 100%. Hands-free or not, using a phone reduces your attention to the road and other drivers. If you use your phone while driving, you are a danger to other people.

I believe it has been proven that the lack of concentration in actively using a phone, ie not on hands free, is the equivalent of drink driving, sadly using your phone still seems to be considered socially acceptable by some in a way that drink driving isn't.
They need to bring back some of the really brutal ad campaigns.

Listening to And dictating messages while driving is distracting you. Hands free has been lab tested and proved to be no safer than using your hands. It’s not having the phone in your hand that’s the danger, it’s doing things that don’t involve focusing on the road that is dangerous. There’s no need.

Yep. A couple where I live were killed by a young man texting as he drove. I see people on their phones all the time while driving, and it's not acceptable. They should have their licences taken off them if caught, no exceptions.

The current punishments are severe enough. An instant driving ban and a huge fine would be a good idea.

Over here it is impossible to buy a car without a screen facing the driver allowing them to watch videos while they are driving. No car would ever sell here without online driver entertainment.

i was fined by police for mobile phone use. It was end of Oct and I was stationary at lights with the handbrake on. The clocks had just changed and I was looking at the clock in my car and I thought crikey it’s later than I thought so picked up my mobile phone from the shelf under the radio, pressed the side in to get the screen to come on and tell me the time. I hadn’t changed my car clock. Put the phone straight back.
Next to me at the lights was a police car. They had seen me - and had seen it was a momentary thing. They pulled me over. Asked me if I had looked at my phone. I answered honestly yes and they fined me. They told me if I’d said no they would have advised me to make sure I never touched my phone whilst in control of a vehicle and given me a warning but because I admitted it they had to fine me.
I was gutted and it hadn’t occurred to me such a tiny thing whilst stationary would be termed as using my mobile phone (I didn’t unlock it simply “woke” the phone up to see the time).
Valuble and expensive lesson though - have never done it again. Plus I warn others too.

I’m also horrified at your friend!

I tutt when I see people using a handheld phone on calls when driving, but making videos/taking photos is another level of terrible.

People on calls are distracted, and their hands are not in full control of the steering wheel. However, surely, if you are making a video, you are looking at the phone so you don’t even have your eyes on the road!

A couple of months ago when I was driving, somebody appeared wheeling a bicycle from behind a line of trees and bushes to attempt to cross a dual carriageway across my path! The road was fortunately quiet, but it was national speed limit. I slammed my brakes on as soon as I saw him, and nothing bad happened, but I was quite shaken up. I seriously thought I was going to hit him, or the car behind (which had been a long way off) would hit me.

I am sure that, had I been distracted at the second he appeared from the tree line, let alone stepped foot in the road, the outcome would have been disastrous. I thank God that the motorist behind me was also paying attention and had left a good stopping distance.

I would absolutely never use my phone at the wheel, but do have Apple car play and regularly listen to / reply to text, play music, make phone calls. etc using voice control. I had no idea it's considered to be so dangerous, but I've probably got complacent. I'd never, say, take a call on the motorway, so I'm sure it is distracting on some level. Will definitely now be changing my level of interaction with the phone even via voice control, while driving

I'm not in the UK and my car's safety systems overrides the phone so no messages or emails are notified. Only direct bluetooth calls come in and I'm not happy about those. I listen to who's calling then pull over to phone back.

My phone is in the boot of the car.

Sign in a French church: ,"If you want to talk to God, come in and find a quiet corner in here. If you want to see God, send him a text while driving."

I spend my trips as passenger in DH's van taking photos of drivers in lorries and vans on their phone, and sending them to their company where details are marked on their vehicles.
I get lots of thank you messages.

I actually think it's a grey area. And agree with BoobyDazzler. Many people can multitask. Some can't. I can't see the difference between talking to a passenger, or listening to the radio, or listening to a podcast. I'd like to see the research, anyone got a link? People lean forward and touch their massive car screens on the dashboard, but you can't touch a phone. What's the difference?

Who is? What a useless post.

Given the antics of drivers down my street there's a lot of people who think it's ok despite being illegal (and a couple of very high profile prosecutions).

There’s a massive difference! I can never understand why people can’t see this. If imma passenger in a car I can see the road too - I can stop talking if the driver is having to negotiate a tricky junction. If I’m talking to someone on the phone then I’ve no idea what’s going on and what conditions/hazards they’re encountering.

You should be ashamed of yourself. People like you invariably get away with behaviour like that while leaving carnage behind you.

For some reason I can’t copy links at the moment but if you google there are loads of links to the research about the dangers of hands free use.

Look up ROSPA, Road Safety GB, TFL, etc. The evidence is endless - those who are experts in road safety recognise the dangers but the car lobby is very very powerful and will always put their wanky status symbols with their flash dashboards above the safety of vulnerable road users. ALL mobile phone use should be illegal - set your satnav at the beginning of your journey and don’t use texts or calls at all when driving.