All you can do is get the reg and report it. A friend of mine was killed while cycling by someone using a mobile. It definitely needs to be taken more seriously. The police could nab scores of people at any junction if the will was there to really set an example.
I think hands free needs to be banned as well. All the evidence I’ve seen reported in the news seems to suggest it is extremely dangerous (it’s the distraction of a remote conversation, not the physical handling of a phone, that is dangerous)

I used to tap on the window and make the ‘phone’ signal until some neanderthal jumped out and nearly flattened me. Frankly, these days I just try to ignore it.

I was in the car in slow moving traffic the other day, nothing coming in the other direction and an old lady waiting to cross the road. I stopped to let her cross and she was just about halfway when the bell-end in a jag behind me, overtook whilst jabbering on his phone, nearly hitting the old dear!! He managed to get one car length ahead in the queue and nearly ran somebody over for it, some folk are unbelievable 👿

I think hands free needs to be banned as well. All the evidence I’ve seen reported in the news seems to suggest it is extremely dangerous

This was suggested in the course I did. But how is it any more dangerous than talking to a passenger?
Ban talking to passengers! Ban kids in cars! I know we used to distract my old man more than anything!

It was also suggested that music is distracting… yeah, better to be awake listening to music than falling asleep at the wheel eh?

Gets on my bits too, but really annoys me are those driving with headphones on, both earbuds in, or even worse big over the ear jobbies

how is that worse than car stereos? (which afaik have no legal volume restrictions)

confused.com has this

So what is the law on driving with earphones in?

Well, a spokeswoman from Gwent Police’s road safety division says: “There is no law specifically banning the use of earphones while driving.”

However, the use of earphones at the wheel would fall under the Road Traffic Act offence of not being in control of a vehicle, the spokeswoman adds.

“It would be up to the officer at the roadside to judge whether they thought the driver’s control was impaired by the use of earphones or any other activity such as changing a CD or smoking.

“If a driver listening to earphones was involved in a collision then they could face charges under the more serious offence of dangerous driving.”

Also, section 148 of the Highway Code states: “Safe driving and riding needs concentration. Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as loud music (this may mask other sounds).”so sounds like one of those tricky ones, pretty sure I’ve never heard of someone getting done for careless/dangerous while have a stereo on too loud, would be unfair if headphones were suddenly jumped on as an obvious transgression. (happy to be corrected on this)

The other thing I see not end of that really gets my goat is people who use satnav by sticking in right in front of their face.

seen a few with satnav/fone mounted on windscreen directly infront of the drivers face ****ing stupid. Thought there was some legal things about restricted view having trouble finding them.

But how is it any more dangerous than talking to a passenger?
Ban talking to passengers!

thought research also suggested that a passenger can see trouble ahead so will stop speaking (I know I do) and may even point out something driver has missed.

Ban kids in cars!

gets my vote!

I often think about taking a photo of them on the phone and emailing it to the local constabulary and their employer ( if in a marked vehicle)

This would be with your phone? 🙂

Are you a cop?

If the answer is yes, do something, if the answer is no…Then go about your business. You’re getting wound up because you’re sticking to the rules, and you see some-one else flouting them. The answer is stop being wound up by other people, otherwise eventually you’ll do something that you’ll likely regret. There’s a risk that they might not be paying sufficient attention on their driving, obviously. The answer to that is; well, you are aren’t you? So you’re not going to put yourself (or them) in a situation where their action is going to cause an accident.

Drive like everyone else is an idiot. Is the best advice that was given to me when I started to learn.

This was suggested in the course I did. But how is it any more dangerous than talking to a passenger?

Passengers stop taking at junctions, roundabouts, crossings, etc.

Gets on my bits too, but really annoys me are those driving with headphones on, both earbuds in, or even worse big over the ear jobbies

My logic when driving the MG a long way is:
1) I can’t hear anything outside the car above the engine noise.
2) The engine is no noisier than a modern car, there’s just not as much soundproofing.
3) QED open backed earphones in a soft top is a lot less isolating than the radio in an average family car.

Ditto ear-plugs on the motorbikes.

This would be with your phone?

Go-Pro on helmet, wouldn’t take long to edit out 5 second clips of each offender and e-mail police/employers.

better to be awake listening to music than falling asleep at the wheel eh?

😕 Because those are the only two possible options?

Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as loud music (this may mask other sounds)

This is a personal pet peeve of mine, linking the distraction with the hearing.

It’s the distraction which is dangerous, not necessarily the masking of other sounds, otherwise it would by definition be dangerous to drive a car if deaf.

Sure you might have reduced awareness of your environment, and deliberately reducing that awareness might not be the best idea in the world, and might increase the overall risk, but it cannot in and of itself be dangerous if the law recognises that it is safe for deaf people to drive.

If you agree that it is safe for a deaf person to drive then you cannot use the masking of sounds/not being able to hear argument. to qualify it as dangerous.

If you *really* thought that hearing every little thing is a pre-requisite of not being dangerous you would surely be suggesting that people drive everywhere with the windows down so they can hear better?

By all means use the distraction argument, but then logically you have to also be supporting the idea of getting rid of other distractions, like a normal car stereo, kids, passengers, satnav etc.

What invariably happens then is you end up in a logical death spiral where you think listening to music is fine, unless its via headphones, because then you can’t hear properly, but it’s ok to be deaf but…. arrrrrgh!

*FTR – I am hearing impaired.

———————————————————————-

Back on topic, I’ve challenged a few drivers who have overtaken me while on the phone and then stopped at lights moments later, most have sheepishly put the phone down, a few have told me to F’off.

How much trouble would you get in if you tackled the F’offers by saying something like:

“I have your reg, I’ll recognise your face, if I see you do that again when I’m in uniform* this conversation will be going a bit differently”

I imagine their tone might change rather sharpish….

*could be a school uniform for all they know 😉

Are you a cop?

If the answer is yes, do something, if the answer is no…Then go about your business. You’re getting wound up because you’re sticking to the rules, and you see some-one else flouting them/quote]

No, we’re getting wound up because it’s dangerous, it’s nothing to do with the rules, that’s the very reason the rule exists!, in the same way I’d be getting wound up if someone was routinely putting my life and the lives of others at risk with their actions.

Would you take the same attitude to a drunk driver or someone weaving around all over the road or otherwise driving dangerously?

It needs to be challenged by normal people until it becomes ingrained that it’s NOT ok.

The phone-as-GPS, phone-as-music-player thing adds some odd dimensions, I could be wrong but I think that operating a phone as a GPS still constitutes the offence of using a mobile while driving, but you’d not bat an eyelid at someone pressing a button or two on a gps.

Enforcement- it should be pretty straightforward to check call logs etc and see “Accident/offence happened at time X, were they on the phone, yes, increase severity of offence” but it should be more active too. And extremely easy to enforce surely? You’d think it’d even be revenue generating, just need 2 officers in a plain car with a camera?

nickc – Member

You’re getting wound up because you’re sticking to the rules, and you see some-one else flouting them. The answer is stop being wound up by other people,

If that other person knocks you off your bike it will be hard to not be wound up.

Gopros have a loop mode that keeps recording in to the same five files over and over again. If there’s an “incident” then you simply stop recording and the incident is at the end of the recording.

The police (don’t know which force or forces) have unmarked lorry tractor units that they use on the motorway to check on lorry drivers as they need something that high up to be able to see in to the cab.

There have been incidents where drivers have been prosecuted for non-driving activities behind the wheel – there was one near Pwllheli in N. Wales where a woman was filmed doing her make-up whilst driving.

Perhaps the real problem is that the judicial system doesn’t see such transgressions as being serious enough to warrant removal of the permission to drive.

“I have your reg, I’ll recognise your face, if I see you do that again when I’m in uniform* this conversation will be going a bit differently”

Or you could try

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don’t have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go put the phone down now that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you.”

and may even point out something driver has missed.

Yeah – “Since when did you go through red lights?” My passenger asked after I’d accidentally gone through the red light (hence driving course)! 👿

Because those are the only two possible options?
Yes, of course 🙄 Music has sometimes kept me awake after a late night gig. Don’t see a problem with it.

If that other person knocks you off your bike it will be hard to not be wound up.

But…You should be riding/driving in such a way as to minimise that, right?

TBH, I understand the frustration, it winds me up as well, but then I think about the disqualified, uninsured, unlicensed, UnMOT, drugs (legal and otherwise) drunk, or probably still over the limit, the young men, the old who’s reactions aren’t what they were, and aaaaaallllll the other mouth breathers allowed to get behind the wheel…and you know? mobile phone use is just one more of those, that I have to take account of.

Just let is wash over me, otherwise I’d be a headline in the local newspaper

amedias – Member

“I have your reg, I’ll recognise your face, if I see you do that again when I’m in uniform* this conversation will be going a bit differently”

“My star wars cosplay stormtrooper uniform is really sweaty, it makes me really tetchy! So I might end up pistolwhipping you with my imperial blaster. And it’s a collectable!”

Go-Pro on helmet, wouldn’t take long to edit out 5 second clips of each offender and e-mail police/employers.

Personally I’m not that keen on doing the Police’s job for them with a Helmet cam or by any other means, we have paid officers for that very purpose.

Others can choose to use them and that’s fine, but it shouldn’t really be down to law abiding road users to gather and submit evidence on the arseholes…

The couple of times I’ve actually ridden in traffic with a helmet cam I seemed to just get more evil stares from everyone in a car, and I think it makes half of the drivers you encounter even more keen on seeking a confrontation with a cyclist who appears to be seeking confrontation them self (a visible camera send all sorts of “messages” doesn’t it)…

I used to think they were a good idea now I’m really not so sure.

And this all misses the key point really, prevention is always better than cure, how do you incentivize/disincentivize drivers to never touch their phone while driving in the first place?

perhaps it’s stronger deterrents, 6 points and a heftier fine would probably be seen as “Heavy handed” but would it have a beneficial impact while the actual “fear of detection” seems to be rather minimal… How about police detection campaigns specifically targeting phone users behind the wheel, as many have said, officers on push bikes in rush hour traffic, with a helmet cam, could easily gather enough evidence to generate several grands worth of fines and make it a god “Cost benefit” activity, but would it have a long term impact on driver behaviour?

As for quibbling over distraction by earphones/music/passengers frankly who GAF?
There’s a standing law on handheld phone use while driving, which is widely disregarded and unenforced and I believe this puts vulnerable road users at greater risk, getting lost in peripheral “What about” arguments is pointless…

Right then, I’m writing to my newly re-elected MP and my local Police commissioner this afternoon, maybe they can explain to me why they don’t feel the need to enforce this particular law…

Personally I’m not that keen on doing the Police’s job for them with a Helmet cam or by any other means, we have fewer and fewer paid officers for that very purpose.

FTFY whilst possibly inviting the wrath of the pedants

While there are some news stories* about people being caught/charged for it, the prevalence of people driving while yacking/texting/tinterwebbing etc on phones tends to suggest the police don’t have a crackdown high on their list of priorities.

*mostly after an accident by which time it’s a bit late.

personally challenge them if the opportunity is there, even if its just a shake of the head and a look of shame.

we shouldn’t carry one ignoring anything dangerous and social shame is going to help change attitudes and behaviours.

Fistly good thread

Secondly its composing messages on your phone that is clearly the worst. Talking hands free maybe distracting but at least you can look out of the window

I think we need to let people know hoe we fell as its mainly pier pressure that keeps us on the straight and narrow

I think I’ll treat myself to a rant on facebook later

The other week, here in that Wilmslow, they had a couple of dayglo/marked up coppers parked on the cycle lane (grrr!) near the airport tunnel with signs out saying ‘targeting mobile phone use’. What use is that I thought? Mean while at the top of the hill, all in black and hiding in the hedgerow was another cop with a walkie talkie… and as I went past he was just radioing ahead to nab some whalley in a 4×4, family in the back, yakering away in his phone. Made me smile even though they messed up what was certainly going to be a strava PB due to parking in the cycle lane…. 🙁

….and the reason why all these people feel safe chatting on their phones and texting? Because there are so few Police on patrol that the fear of a random catch has disappeared. I believe drink-driving is on the increase for the same reason.

It only takes a few well-publicised prosecutions and word begins to spread.

feeling the need to tweet to gmptraffic – might invite them out one morning to join me on the commute

Reported council bin lorry driver reversing down my street using mobile while his colleagues were around the rear of the vehicle. Blatantly needless risk taking, nevermind any member of the public around too.

I got a reply a few weeks later saying the waste contractor had spoken to the driver about it. Hopefully the fact that it has been noticed has made him think twice about doing so in future.

I feel pretty sad when I see someone gabbing on a phone with kids in the car.

As others have said, there is almost no police presence dealing with any of this thesedays, especially not on local roads. Pretty much the wild west really.

We lost a baby a few weeks after some c**t in a van drove into the back of my wife’s car whilst he was on the phone.
No idea if the two were related but she started bleeding the day of the accident, and never stopped until she lost the baby.

As a result I have a total hatred of people talking on the phone whilst driving – I do a lot of miles (25k per year) and have seen everyone doing it from – HGV drivers, fuel tanker drivers, police in uniform.
It needs to be treated the same way as drink driving –
get caught = driving ban.

I think car manufacturers and the design of some of the newer in car entertainment systems have a part to play in peoples perception that it is okay to fiddle around with touch screens while driving.

I was in a courtesy car with a mate recently, a brand new Insignia, and it had a touch screen about the size of an ipad as the radio (and several other functions) – I think these are in principal wrong because operating it is based upon looking at the bloody thing! Radios with physical buttons allow you to know and feel what you’re doing without looking at them.

However.. what really surprised me was a tracker pad type thing in the centre console of the Insignia that the driver is able to operate a ******* cursor with on the screen. WTF are these things doing in cars?! No wonder people think it is ok to play on their phone. I was also in a brand new 5 series recently and it had a similar tracker pad thing where the driver is able to draw letters on a pad to input postcodes etc.

FWIW it boils my piss seeing people on their blower in the motor. Nearly every day I get someone behind me constantly looking down every two seconds at what I assume is their phone and not their genitalia. If one of them crashes into the back of me I’ll do serious ******* jailtime for them. Rant over.

I understand the white-van man needs to make calls, given the amount of time they spend on the road. Should employers step up and equip these vehicles with hands free? Should this be applied to all commercial vehicles, at employers expense?

Can’t stand seeing 4 blokes jammed upfront in a van, with the drivers steering with his elbows using phone. If you need to make a call, get you mate to do it ffs.

my old fella used to drive wagons nearly 15 years ago and they had them all fitted with hand free? how there are commercial vehicles on now without it do now know. dont get me started on the dirvers in 40k worth of motor and they cant figure out how to pair the 500 quid iphone to the car. bellends

this was a great one from this morning.

muppet driving down CS3 segregated cycle superhighway on cable street, caused a women to crash her bike.

driver then started getting aggressive towards cyclists who challenged him, told them to f*ck off and gave them the finger, and then drove off again down CS3 causing oncoming cyclists to swerve to avoid his vehicle.

WTF are these things doing in cars?!

My car has a touch screen with loads of menus and things, but almost all of it stops working when you start moving. The stuff you should be operating whilst moving is all on the steering wheel in button form. This results in a fairly fearsome array of buttons but they are all shaped, dimpled and protruded differently so after a while you can do what you want without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road.

Good work, Toyota (IMO)

Freeagent – that is truly shocking. Nothing anyone can say that could help you.