fixed penalty notice possible job loss?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

mmm, ok.

Hope you weren't on mobile whilst reading and posting. :rotfl:

saintjammyswine

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

mmm, ok.

Hope you weren't on mobile whilst reading and posting. :rotfl:

Apparently drinking coffee, writing a report & reading this forum don't mix! Be warned kids.

Acc72

flitemad wrote: »

His boss refused to speak to him yesterday when he called him.

This is a bit weird - unless of course his boss was driving at the time of the call !! ....

As this is the first 3 points on his licence I would hope that it would not affect his job (most insurers require notification when it gets to 6 points - although this does not mean that the premium will increase or that he would lose his job at that point).

Is there anything about penalty points in his contract or company procedures?

If I was him I would just not make a big deal of it and see what happens.

You could argue that if the company called him (especially if it was a company provided phone) then they should provide a hands free kit etc.

However, as he has only been with the company for 5 months he doesn't want to be arguing with them over anything.

I am not sure how much the hands free thing costs ? - could he buy one himself and use that ?

kizkiz

Being in the job i get to see a fair few accidents.
Had a little chat with some traffic officers once, and they showed me a photo of an accident they went to.
A lorry had driven into the back of one of those waste carrying lorries with the massive solid metal rear end.
It was hard to see the driver's body until they pointed it out. It looked a bit like the terminator from T2 when it started melting. He was still sat in the drivers seat, but his body had peeled down out of the door and onto the floor after impact.

And the relevance to this thread?

They know the accident was caused by him being on his mobile phone, as it was still in his hand, which was now about 10 foot from his body, on the floor. He was distracted making the call and hadn't seen the traffic in front stop.

It's never worth answering. Just pull over and answer when safe

Hammyman

flitemad wrote: »

.The call was letting him know the job was cancelled, he would have driven for over 200 miles if he ignored the call

Only if he was a complete halfwit. Those with an ounce of intelligence would have just stopped at the nearest safe place and called back.

vax2002

Just a point.
Policy is a bunch of rules made up by someone who thinks they own you.
The law is what we must all obey and rules over any policy.
And, pulling over to take a telephone call does not mean you wont get fined for using a mobile telephone, you are still technically driving even if you are parked, barmy, yes !
You can even be prosecuted for using a hands free device under Regulation 104 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 if it is deemed to have distracted you.
His employer can do as they like it would fall well under gross misconduct given the seriousness of what can occur.
The only sensible advice is ask the company to provide a handsfree kit for the vehicle and in the absence of this, turn the phone off whilst driving.
In the event of any further incidents the phones log will show it was turned off.

flitemad

Hi, thanks to for all the replies. I never meant to cause an argument and i certainly dont think its right that he has answered the phone whilst driving,it is illegal and should stay illegal. My boyfriend knows how i feel about him answering his the call, and i used stronger words than halfwit. A big thanks for all the replies were still not sure what is going to happen, but he did wrong and needs to accept what ever may come of them.

McKneff

saintjammyswine wrote: »

Apparently drinking coffee, writing a report & reading this forum don't mix! Be warned kids.

hmph, that's nothing us women could do all :Dthat, knit and smoke too

Savvy_Sue

flitemad wrote: »

I am going to go and buy him a hands free kit as soon as i finish work today...Will have to check which kind it is he can use.

If the company want their staff to answer mobile phone calls in their vehicles, then they should supply hands-free kits. If they don't, then he should take that as an indication that he should never answer the phone while driving.

Let him set up a different ring tone for work, then if that ring tone goes off while he's driving he can pull in when it's safe and legal to do so and check the answerphone. If it's anyone else, he can ignore it until he's due to stop (so that he isn't delayed by pulling in at every service station to pick up messages from you / his mum / his best mate etc).

Uncertain wrote: »

If the company require him to answer the phone whilst driving then they need to provide him with the necessary equipment to do this legally.

Even then, if he were to be involved in an accident, he could possibly be guilty of driving without due care and attention or even dangerous driving so beware it is not a "get out of jail free card".

Personally I think ALL mobile phone use whilst driving should be banned

and since men are not renowned for their ability to multi-task ...

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Okay, it was to say that the job had been cancelled, but it is ridiculous to suggest that he would have continued to drive another 200 miles to a cancelled job if he hadn't taken the call. What was wrong with driving to the next service station, or leaving the M'way at the next exit and finding a safe place to take the call.

Yup, that's what you do. It's not rocket science!