What can we do about drivers on phones….

I’m late to the party here but are @Cougar and @Cougar2 the same person???

Yes. See the ‘issues’ sticky.  You might need to go back a page or two.

And driverless cars in US cities.

No they don’t.  It’s like three cities and they have automated cars, not autonomous ones.  They still require a driver.

Regardless, most of us don’t live in the US.  Many American cities were manufactured with cars in mind.  It’s one thing navigating a grid system, another entirely hacking around a British city or a scabby single track road with passing places that we can’t yet trust satnavs not to send us down.  My car has an automatic parallel park feature, in the 2-3 years I’ve had it I think it’s worked once.

Proper funding for traffic cops and then issue them all with a tiny hammer. Caught using your phone, hammer time! for your phone and a fine and points for you.

I don’t agree with ‘switch off’ tech. I use my phone for voice navigation and playing music through Tidal. It sits in the glovebox or in the drinks holder thingy and I’m never tempted to use it. I ignore most calls and messages when I’m at home, let alone whilst driving.

I see it quite a bit, mainly around town and quite a lot seem to be young women around their early 20s, or tradies in their vans, it’s not just phones either, electronic devices are as bad, i think every delivery driver you see is veering about as they check their drop off list and directions rather than the road.

It’s just one of many issues on cars, i see a fair few that aren’t MoT’d or Taxed, and i’d hazard a guess there’s a lot without licenses, fake plates, etc as well, factor in a lot of old folk who shouldn’t be near a car anymoe and it’s not an easy drive these days!

Caught using your phone, hammer time! for your phone and a fine and points for you.

This is policy in France I believe, for satnavs with speed camera warnings.  They make you drive over it.  Might be different now in the days of phones for navigation, I don’t know.

I don’t agree with ‘switch off’ tech. I use my phone for voice navigation and playing music through Tidal. It sits in the glovebox or in the drinks holder thingy and I’m never tempted to use it. I ignore most calls and messages when I’m at home, let alone whilst driving.

I don’t disagree, I have Android Auto for mapping, Spotify, audiobooks, podcasts.  It’ll read out text messages and ask me if I want to (verbally) send a reply.  None of this requires me to touch the handset, it’s little different from changing radio channels.  But I’ll wager that almost everyone will justify their usage to themselves whatever that usage happens to be.  It’s a bit like speeding – the speed I’m going is correct, anyone faster is a menace and anyone slower is under the feet and going to cause an accident.

For all the cries of “that’s not how it works”
Again. that’s not how it works.. ”

It doesn’t work and isn’t working so rather than pissing on other people’s chips because their ideas are different to current UK road traffic sentencing guidelines then maybe the current points and fines do need addressing.

The crux of it is though not enough police tasked with actively seeking out those on the phone , overload cps system to process any increase in potential prosecution and courts without capacity to hear lots of trials regarding phone use.

Maybe a different system with the option of taking points , or on the spot ( say within 3 days) fine of a week’s wage, increase to a month wage on repeat offence would be a self financing deterrent.

And please let’s not start with , but that’s not how it works. Simply because it doesn’t work. Phone use is at an all time high , and is only going to get worse as the millennials who have lived umbically attached to a phone get decent jobs and drive more

After several very close calls with drivers I bought some cameras from Chillitech a couple of months ago. I use them on my commute and have submited reports via Operation Snap of three drivers who drove very dangerously around me. Results are two warning letters sent and one Notice of Intended Prosecution.

I have not reported any phone drivers yet but see lots of them and am considering doing so. I would need to change my front camera from bar to helmet mount though. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel

And please let’s not start with , but that’s not how it works. Simply because it doesn’t work.

If 6 points and a several hundred quid fine isn’t deterring people then increasing that penalty isn’t going to make the blindest bit of difference.  Crushing the phone as Funky suggested might I guess.

I bet if you asked drivers what the penalty was, most wouldn’t know.  Advertising that more widely could be a promising start, rather than crying to bring back the birch.

I’m late to the party here but are @Cougar and @Cougar2 the same person???

Got banned so came back with a cunning new username to fox the mods

[winky face emoji]

Can smoking and vaping be stopped too please, and people talking, and middle lane drivers, and those that stick just below the speed limit