To think phone drivers should receive an immediate 3 month ban

[JacquesHarlow]

That's it. That's the thread.

In seriousness, I am sick to the back teeth of seeing people where I live (Surrey, before everyone says "oh I don't see any phone drivers where I live, OP) using their mobile phone while driving.

It's endemic here, but I suspect it's the same anywhere in the UK.

I'll start from worst to most serious:

• WhatsApp gap People in traffic slowing down to a crawl. They take their phone out and glance at it on their lap and start texting. Then the car takes off in front of them seconds before the light changes. Do they move forward? Do they heck. Now this isn't necessarily as dangerous as the next few examples, but it's bloody irritating when you're behind them, you can't move, and then the lights change. They're essentially saying "My time is more important than yours".

• Slow urban texting People using phones during slow urban driving. I see it every day - they're on a 30 mph road, its a two lane carriageway in town. They glance down to type, then up to maintain their progress before the next set of lights. It's disgusting, but they get away with it because it's a big enough road and no one is crossing at that point.

• Pulling out without looking People on our school run who literally are holding their phone to their ear or texting, AS THEY PULL OUT of the space. So they're not even looking or paying attention in case a child darts out (and before people say it, yeah I see children dart out all the time. It's wrong, it's not my fault, but their parents are.... guess what, on their phones while walking). These folk then get really angry if I or anyone else points it out, as if I'm deliberately victimising them.

• Motorway driving This one really gets my goat because of the speed. I have driven in lane 1, gone to change lane safely after indicating, only to find the person in front has suddenly slowed down inexplicably. I slow down myself, I check my speed, move around safely to 3, then indicate back across 2 and into 1. While doing that, I glance over... OF COURSE SHE'S TEXTING. I've even seen someone holding their phone on a video call (Christ wept).

My point is, why do any of these people deserve the luxury of six points?

I think there should be a 3 month ban for these folk.

.I'd like to hear their usual self-centred 'hardship' stories in court "I have to drive around my 3 year old and work, how do I do this now, I can't afford cabs?!"

I cannot stand the self centredness, the myopic " I can multitask" bullshit that exists around driving in this country. We've all got way too comfortable in these massive things, wandering around with our phone addictions, knowing there's not enough police to stop this.

If you're a driver and you do this? Shame on you! Seriously. I can't stand it. If either of my DDs were injured or killed by someone using their phone, I would be apoplectic with the pointlessness of it.

AIBU? I can't wait to hear how much I am "too invested, OP" by the usual apologists for this kind of thing.

You're in luck op because Weybridge had a new police thing :

The examples op gave were bad. But I disagree with the laws re engine off : stationary traffic, accident on m25 where you queued for 1/2 an hour, I'd turn engine off, then text Dh. But that's not allowed either.

Welcome to social media.

I agree with you @Sinkintotheswamp hut there’s plenty of others already on this thread who’ve said alarms, calling DH in a jam, could be reasons.

No. Everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt once. Hence we have points system and training courses.

I totally agree.

For safety reasons of course but also because the roads would be lovely and quiet.

Can we also get rid of the ones smoking weed? Not a week goes by that I'm not behind a car with stinky weed smoke emanating from it. And I drive to work at 6am!

@DragonFly98

People are:so odd the way they think "it's illegal do you just never do it". Like they can't assess risk for themselves or see the difference between immoral and illegal. The OP herself has pointed out the issue with car controls being on screens and more complicated to access. Yet then says that to use these are "legal" as if that makes the ok to use. Personally, I think the use of these screens as controls, having to search through numerous menus for example, are likely to be way more dangerous and distracting than pushing one button on a phone to switch an alarm off.

Texting while during, obviously dangerous and a big no. Watching films while driving, equally problematic. Pressing a button to stop a distracting alarm....While, if you are holding your phone to do this is technically illegal, I don't think it's particularly distracting, dangerous, or immoral to do so. No more so than lots of other things you do to control the car while driving. The law is there to make things clearer (just don't hold your phone) and to make enforcement easier. It doesn't mean that even just touching a phone while driving is highly dangerous, immoral and makes you a terrible person.

It's hard to legally describe and mitigation is there.

People use phones for navigation purposes (hands free and mounted) but if mounting falls off people may need to grab it. Particularly in winter months when the warming of the car inside tends to make the suction iffy. I've had it fall off and the cables get tangled around the gearstick. I do need to sort that out before I need to change gear or its dangerous.

Prob with being banned I know 3 people banned who still drive /drove

unless someone is watching them 24/7 how can they inforce it

they can’t take away a family car if others use it

a huge fine and points so if happens agaib they lose license

but then back to prob one

The people who have decided that a "bit of minor phone use is ok, and what about the people who speed and weave about they're the ones who cause all the accidents"... they won't be convinced otherwise

This is true, @JacquesHarlow, but then if some resist the small inconvenience of not using a phone when driving I'd suggest they're much less likely to accept the far bigger one of being banned

Which is where seizing the vehicle for the duration of the ban comes into it, and if that troubles its other users they can take that up with the person who caused it

certainly longer than three months - and a heavy fine

now what to do about the texting cyclists?

The facile Daily Mail-esque lock them up and throw away the key, crush the car etc etc arguments are ridiculous and impractical as others have pointed out. Apologies to the won’t someone please think of the children crowd.

I don’t believe this approach will be effective.
There are around 40 million cars licenced to drive on U.K. roads. With the best will in the world, unlimited funding for the police they can’t possibly monitor everyone. Pretty much everyone driving will have a mobile phone.

I think “hands free” i.e. a cradle suction cupped to the windscreen should also be illegal. Most newer cars don’t require these and within a few years there will be very few cars that don’t have in built sat nav and Apple CarPlay/android auto.

My phone switches to driving mode when it senses movement (be that car or train) you have to override this to use the phone. I don’t see why this system couldn’t be built into cars. Again in modern cars you get an infuriating beeping sound if you don’t have your seatbelt on, I think something like this for mobile phone use, could something similar be used for cars? There would need to be an override for passenger use but the seatbelts know who is in the car so it wouldn’t be available when only one person was in the car.

So you would never check your phone in the car?

It goes onto driving mode so notifications are switched off. To be honest I didn’t set it up like this on purpose it came with the phone, I didn’t realise till I got home one day and had a missed call and wondered why it didn’t ring. But it’s very rare than anything urgent will happen in my drive home so I just left it like that. The car can also read text messages and WhatsApp messages to me but why bother? People wouldn’t text me something urgent they would phone.

I think you can set up a list of people that are allowed through on driving mode - don’t know. Quite enjoy a wee peaceful drive home without it beeping to be honest!

now what to do about the texting cyclists?

Ooh look over there at them, they killed 3 people last year

dobt be looking at drivers killing 1700

Yeah fuck those 3 people. And their families. Total acceptable losses. 🤔

I'm 100% with you OP. Such a selfish and completely unnecessary behaviour. My ex used to use his phone at the wheel all the time and scream at me if I challenged this. I hated it, there literally can't be a call or text that's worth risking other people's safety over.

I think the cars that automatically contact the emergency services in the event of a serious accident have their own SIM card in, which they use to connect, and don’t rely on your phone. Otherwise if you didn’t have your phone with you, it it was flat, or you were already on it (hands free of course) it wouldn’t work.

As almost all cars sold in the last 15 years have some form of Bluetooth there is really no excuse for using a hand held phone on the move. More modern cars will have apple CarPlay or android auto, which will let you listed to and respond by voice to texts / WhatsApp. So I can’t see why anyone needs to hold a phone t all. So I agree the penalties should be much higher, and I think the use of short bans would help.

At the moment, going over 100mph is quite likely to lead to a ban if caught, so not many people do it. The same should apply to phone use, middle lane hogging on the motorway, inappropriate use of rear fog lights, failing to merge in turn, failing to give cyclists enough space, vaping in the car, throwing rubbish out of the window, parking on double yellow lines and misuse of disabled parking bays!

Just to add I'll never forget 8 years ago it took me two hours to get to work one day as the motorway was standstill, police diverting people off etc. Turned out a man texting on his phone while driving had collided with a family in another car and killed them all- child in the back, father and the mother who was eight months pregnant. He survived with relatively minor injuries.

I would change the law so that unless a ‘phone mount was permanently fixed (ironically, as they were for car phones back in the 80s/90s, before it became illegal to use a hand held mobile in the car) with a mechanical attachment keeping the phone in it then it wouldn’t count as mounted. Precisely because of the risk it doesn’t stay attached and the subsequent temptation to grab it if all that’s holding it on is a suction cup or air vent mounted ‘wedge’ or whatever other detachable mount is used.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/19290927.a34-fatal-crash-lorry-driver-jailed-killing-father-of-four/

my ds is friends with his ds

it was traumatic to say the least, two of his children were in the car when it happened

I guess it's a rarity, but a colleague once hobbled into work having his phone fall from the suction mount and bounce onto his "bits". Luckily we could laugh he didn't lose control. I can only imagine ....

I agree, it needs to be a massive inconvenience if you get caught. People seem almost immune to fines and points.
It makes me sick to think of the risks some people take whilst driving.

Car and phone crushed.
Lifetime driving ban.
Mugshot in local media.

Harsh? Yes, but if you knew someone killed by a driver on a phone you would feel the same.

I agree wholeheartedly. Phones switched to silent while driving. Mine's only there in case there's a breakdown that requires me to call for help from the side of the road.

Used while driving should be a three month ban at the very least, the penalties should be severe enough to make people think twice.

The other day I stopped at traffic lights and could see in my mirror the driver behind immediately picked up their phone and started texting, no longer looking at the road or concentrating when the traffic moved off again. The thing was she was an older, white-haired lady who should be old enough to know better, and who would have (presumably) been driving for years before mobile phones ever became a thing, but still can't abide by the law.... Sad.

You need to plan better or pull over and turn it off.
You never 'need' to grab your phone.
First offence caught using phone: 2 to 5 year ban.
Second offence aftee first expires: 10 year ban.
Second offence if first still active or 3rd or more offence: lifetime ban.
I also think it should push insurance premiums up dramatically.
There's no excuse.