Every day I drive 24 miles to on a mix of motorway , A and B roads. Every journey , without fail I see drivers either closely inspecting their groin , texting or chatting away on their mobiles.
I know they shouldnt do , they know they shouldn’t do it, yet its endemic.

Inevitably the car following me is often occupied by a driver intent on spending more time looking at their phone than the road ahead. Stop at a junction or traffic lights and their eyes ( and head ) instantly drop to look at their lap.

It makes me really rather cross and one day I will be out the car shouting like a loon . So far I have sat stationary at a green light whilst the person behind continues facebooking and hasnt noticed the lights have changed , just that I havent moved off.

I have also slowly rolled back about 2mtrs so my boot was close to their bonnet , that got a surprised reaction when the driver finally looked up.

I want an A3 sized sticker to whack on their windscreen with something like ‘ My mobile is more important to me than your safety’ written on it in red capitals . So they scrape it off for 10 mins whilst everyone else reads it .

Maybe its just me , and I notice things going on around me . Or maybe I should just accept it as modern life , tut a little and carry on carrying on in the hope they ram into the back of a lorry at some point in the near future

Some lovely phrases to quote in that so , what say you stw?

Short beep of the horn every time their head drops.

It’s fine so long as you keep one hand on the wheel.

Have a go. I was told by one mother with two children ‘what’s it to you’? After she came close to hitting my car. If they are following hit the hazzard lights briefly and or beep if they are ‘that’ close/dangerous.

If they’re behind you, get out your phone and video them then brake check them. Should be a winner on YouTube.

Never ever brake test anyone. Nor undertake. Two of the worst things you can do to another driver.

Aye, it’s constant, was on the news recently that it’s worse in Scotland than the rest of the U.K., which wasn’t a surprise considering how often I see it. Most common offenders I see are young females, seems they are part android. Or IOS…..

Makes me mad as well, stiffer penalties are needed, instant 1 month driving ban and 6 points should do it.
Apart from that bapping the horn should get their attention.

What can be done? Its endemic, I sit at the same junction every day and see multiple drivers using their phones.

When I see them when I am commuting on my bike I get ( when they are stationary) really close to the drivers window and shout loudly. then laugh as they drop the phone startled and guilty 🙂

Always try to make as much space around you as you can, you’ll never stop crap driving, just defend yourself against it.

Doesn’t work if you are cycling though!
It seems split by gender, females all texting/facebooking/twitter etc & males having their phone glued to their ears.

Stop texting/calling them when they’re driving? 😉

Doesn’t work if you are cycling though!

🙁

It’s not just when driving either. Walking glued to phone, in a meeting at work glued to phone, operating machinery glued to phone, out for a night out glued to the phone. Everywhere you look, mainly under 30s are glued to their phone. I think the future of the human species is doomed. I would love to shut down the mobile and wifi networks just for a week to see what would happen to these people.

It is a big problem and you will never stop it. Think it’s 10 years or so since the penalties for using a mobile started including points as well as a fine but there are no police to enforce it.

After an incident yesterday, I’ve decided not to get bothered about other drivers again as long as they don’t crash into me.

I was turning into a one way street ( the correct way 😉 ) in my local town centre and encountered a van coming up the wrong way. This has happened before as there is a small car park halfway along it and motorist do miss the One Way sign as they exit the car park as a local trader has a habit of parking his massive van in front of the sign….. ( OK they should remember but we are northern 😉 )

In the past, I have wound the window down and explained to the motorist they are going the wrong way. Everyone has been apologetic and either turned round or gone out really slowly.

Not this character. I got a load of abuse and was told to get out the way and mind my own business. ( I’m not after a ban so I won’t type his exact words )

It would have taken him 20 seconds more to drive around the block to come out the correct way of the one way system. With an attitude like that, these people are just idiots full stop whether it be in a car, queuing at a supermarket, or just general day to day life.

Best to ignore them and get away from them.

I had the misfortune to walk down Deansgate in Manchester on Friday evening at rush hour this weekend, a horrible experience. More than half the people walking along were engrossed im their phone screens & totally unaware of their immediate surroundings.

I drive for a living and see it everywhere by almost everyone, really hate it. The worst seem to be anyone with a car that could be classed as a fashion accessory – so that’s yummy mums in their SUV’s, posers in their Audi’s, but the worst is definitely young females in 500’s/DS3’s etc. They just have no concept of why what they’re doing is wrong! Other delivery drivers are bad at it too, especially some of my colleagues but at least everyone knows that van driver = unpredictable. Strangely I’ve noticed that people with ‘non-cars’ like an old battered Peugeot or really old Luxobarges seem to not do it anywhere near as much.

You can also add the same people putting satnav’s in the middle of the screen, stopping in ASL’s etc. We really need more traffic cops to sort this blatant disregard for the rules an other people’s lives out.

Doesn’t work if you are cycling though!

Use it to your advantage, join i the conversation. Works well with cabrio’s. I may have also been known to snatch the phone out of their hands and chuck it on the back seat on occasion too.. 😳

It’ll never happen, but when I win the lottery I’ll buy an old car, and crash into cars with drivers on the phone. Only slowly, so no one gets hurt, just a small dent. And when they start moaning I’ll just point to their phone.
Like I said, it’ll never happen so I just ignore them, and keep out of their way.

What can be done? Its endemic

raise the fines/penalties and put out lots of unmarked police cars with rear facing cameras, and then just pull them over and fine.

Would raise tons of money which I don’t care if they put back into building the police force up. Rather have lots of police around than people exercising their illegal right to put everyone elses safety at risk.

Same for dodgy driving – maybe just feed the footage real-time to a central locaton where a desk of ‘judges’ convicts them immediately – would cut down on the paperwork.

I’ve taken to leaning on my horn if I see someone clearly not paying attention and on the phone. That’s what it’s for right?

As for enforcement? Apparently our local forces traffic dept has been cut by 95% in the last five years or so. It shows. I can’t remember the last time I saw a traffic police car.

And don’t get me started on lorry drivers on the phone.

Does my nut in. I’m getting more and more vocal/horn active at drivers on the phone lately.

Had a couple of good ones last week, guy not paying attention chatting on his phone on narrow lanes. Us coming the other way with the sheep trailer. He was at the back of 3 cars and had plenty of time to see us and stop in a previous passing place had he not been on his phone but instead he went right up the arse of the 2 in front stopping them from reversing and letting us through. Fortunately he had his window down when we got along side.

Then a mother with her baby in the back in a traffic jam on the M5. Driving slowly forwards in the queue with her head down texting. Big long blast on the horn as we got along side made her jump, she then got angry and asked why we beeped her and when I told her to get off her flipping phone she got all sheepish. Guy in front of her who had been watching her get closer to his back end thanked us as we passed him slowly.

Always leave yourself plenty of room in front when a berk behind is on their phone.

Had it one morning, busy traffic queuing into Derby, the third time the woman behind did it and jumped on her brakes I got out and suggested she stop it, she of course denied it, but the threat of me reporting her to the Police made her put it away. Stupid, utterly stupid.

All the more reason to avoid riding on roads…

I got a good look of surprise when the light went green and I pulled out and overtook the first car in the queue where the driver was texting instead of looking.

More policing plus ban for first offence is the way forward though. It’s been proven to be as dangerous as driving at the legal alcohol limit so why are the penalties so light?

Speeding drivers can claim they drifted over the limit but a phone can’t just drift into your hand.

I’m amazed how many folks I see doing it in modern cars and exec cars that by now MUST have bluetooth radio connections as standard. My shed of a car has it, are there really cars being released nowadays where it isn’t factory fitted?

I know the argument is that being on the phone is distracting enough anyway but I’d rather have them talking but using hands for steering than holding the phone. I was following a car recently through town on my bike, so could clearly see through the back window and she had the phone to her left ear, and was changing gear with the right hand. Yes, across her body with no hands on the wheel. Amazing.

It makes me really rather cross and one day I will be out the car shouting like a loon .

Ditto

raise the fines/penalties and put out lots of unmarked police cars with rear facing cameras, and then just pull them over and fine.

Would raise tons of money which I don’t care if they put back into building the police force up. Rather have lots of police around than people exercising their illegal right to put everyone elses safety at risk.

Indeed. Raise the penalty from £50 or whatever up to £1000 and a ban.

Drink driving used to be regarded as a minor infringement but sometime in the 70s/80s attitudes changed due to increased enforcement, higher penalties and , not least, an intense publicity campaign. Some people are so thick they need to be told at least ten times a day.
Maybe interrupt their sat nav with a claret strewn infomercial every time they stop at the lights….

It’s the selfish nature of the general population… No particular regard for anything else or anyone else. It’s also the sense of entitlement to behave in however they like even it means potentially endangering others.

I had to slow as a car edged out a junction, and the van behind didn’t notice until the last minute, skidded, lost control and mounted the pavement, thankfully not near any pedestrians.

Yep, he was on his phone and it flew out of his hands into the footwell.

First thing he did was pick it up and carry on… omg

I was cycling my extended loop home from work on Tuesday and in a couple of sections its a single track road not wide enough for a vehicle and bike at the same time. Unluckily a landrover came round with a smaller horse box attached as well so a sizeable load on it. I had to completely unclip, get off and stand in the hedge to let it pass, as it pulled alongside me, he had his window fully open and a phone to his ear. He looked at me as if waiting for me to say thanks for slowing etc at which point i just stared at him and didnt utter a single word nor a smile. Every part of me wanted to say ‘get off your **** phone before you kill one of us’ but unfortunately riding alone as a woman I didnt want to face an angry bloke who could of easily laid me out. Made me properly angry!

I have almost kicked the crap out of one lad who took offense to me shouting “get off the effing phone” as he attempted to nudge my back wheel at a junction as he was texting/facebooking.
He soon backed down as I put my bike down and walked to his door as he realised 2 other drivers were shouting at him as they had been following his erratic driving for a couple of miles, one even apolagised for the other drivers behavior!!

Just got back in from a road ride. I was stopped at the traffic lights behind two cars, I was leaning on the railings to stay clipped in.

A car rolled up next to me. White Q3, woman in her early 30s driving (not judging – just scene setting), phone in hand.

Lights change, front two cars move off, Q3 doesn’t move. Now, I want her in front of me where I can see her, not behind where she might run me over. After a few seconds she put her phone down and set off. No drama really.

However, about 1/2 mile up the road she was just getting out of her car after parking outside a shop. Completely on the footway right outside the doors probably because of the double yellow lines. The street view photo shows where she parked, fully blocking the footway.

Ironically, she was dressed in full gym kit but it was obviously too far to walk from the car park at the rear of the shop.

Some people will just never change their attitudes because they are so self centred.

Apparently our local forces traffic dept has been cut by 95% in the last five years

I heard it was 100% and they (Devon & Cornwall) have more miles of roads than any other force.

Worst I have ever seen was a driver on the phone at a red light, my right filter was red too, his changed to green and he didn’t move. I looked across and he was on his phone, his 3-4 year old son was STANDING on the front passenger seat with another one in the back standing on the rear seat.
I glared at him to be shouted at with a “what you ^&%&^& looking at”. I just commented that his son was about to fall out of the window and that maybe he should get off the phone. He told his mate/solicitor/judge that “some **** in the car next to me told me to get off my phone”

M4 Westbound on Thurday afternoon. Dickhead in an Audi 4×4. Traffic was fairly light but he was in the outside lane at over 70. I could see him ahead of me wandering over the white lines to the middle lane.

Eventually he moved to the middle lane and I made sure i was in front of him. Sure enough, on his phone still when I passed him. Also running a space saver wheel on the front which is meant to have a 50mph limit.

I heard it was 100% and they (Devon & Cornwall) have more miles of roads than any other force.

Really? I wouldn’t have thought there were more roads in Devon and Cornwall than Scotland. Every day’s a school day.

I do the same as Jam Bo, lean on my horn, which on my Vectra is like a fog horn.

Highlight of me doing this was when I was doing it because a woman in a Mini was weaving all over the centre lane and nearly into me on M60 in the 50MPH zone, she looked at me and carried on yapping, giving me the fingers swearing at me, then an HGV did exactly the same thing on the inside of her, she s**t herself.