Police to sieze mobile phones after a RTC

w211

Phone blocking in cars?

How am I going to make a phone call, check e-mails etc., when I travel in the back of a minicab? How can I contact the driver, or the driver contact me, if there's a problem on the way to pick me up?

vaio

cjdavies wrote: »

If you have nothing to hide, why refuse?

iltisman wrote: »

Blimey it took 23 posts for one of them to turn up.

Scary that some (lots?) are happy to accept something that even those well known defenders of civil liberties ACPO think is a step too far

arcon5

Strider590 wrote: »

Your taking me too literally.

I'm merely pointing out that they'd rather make money, than actually stop people using their phones. There are tonnes of ways they could discourage drivers, but they don't do anything..... Thus drivers are allowed to think they can get away with it.

It's like they're setting us up to fail, instead of putting their efforts into stopping people doing it in the first place. We see plenty of anti-speeding campaigns and drink driving campaigns, but what about phone use?

Whilst it is incredibly dangerous, I think the authorities see it as a nice cash cow.

It's not about stopping people using their phones though is it. It's about stopping people holding mobile devices whilst driving. There are ways of lawfully using a phone whilst driving.

arcon5

GabbaGabbaHey wrote: »

Yes, but your network operator's logs will also have all that information, and the fact that you have bothered to wipe it from your phone might just make plod decide to get hold of a copy.

Unfortunately (in my opinion, anyway) yes, you are. But that doesn't mean that you are not a danger to yourself and to other road users, as all the evidence shows that it's the cognitive load that makes using a mobile while driving so dangerous - it has very little or nothing to do with physically holding the device. There are (properly conducted, published, peer-reviewed) studies that show that hands-free mobile use is at least as dangerous as drink driving.

Same can be said about the use of a radio (which takes your eyes off the road for couple of seconds), for smoking whilst driving, eating/drinking, talking to passengers etc etc.

So how far do we take the law? Do we then extend it to CB radios, to data units etc etc. IE equipment used daily and necessarily by many industries.

deanos

if you use hands free you can still get prosecuted

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1029749/Hands-free-phone-driver-convicted-causing-death-dangerous-driving.html

GingerBob_3

daveyjp wrote: »

And if it is found they were using the phone make it the same penalty as drink driving. Taken immediately to the station and told to expect a minimum 1 year ban, hefty fine and trouble getting car insurance for 10 years.

Quite. In fact, why not go the whole hog and bring in capital punishment for parking on a double yellow.

System

GingerBob wrote: »

Quite. In fact, why not go the whole hog and bring in capital punishment for parking on a double yellow.

They can't they are keeping that for parking in a disabled bay (after the lynch mob have dealt with you)

GabbaGabbaHey

arcon5 wrote: »

Same can be said about the use of a radio (which takes your eyes off the road for couple of seconds), for smoking whilst driving, eating/drinking, talking to passengers etc etc.

No, that's the whole point. The research shows that they are NOT the same.

An experienced driver can probably take their eyes off the road for a couple of seconds - but they will choose the moment when they do it (e.g. not when they are entering a busy roundabout or merging onto a motorway, or in the middle of an overtake). Equally, when you are talking to a passenger, they will be aware of the environment outside the car and also the driver's non-verbal cues.

Talking on a mobile phone (whether hand-held or hands free) imposes a much higher cognitive load on the driver, especially if the conversation is emotional, complex or detailed, and this leads to a deterioration of driving performance equivalent to that caused by drink driving.

You might want to read or watch some of the following:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1885775.stm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1157465/Hands-free-mobile-phones-dangerous-drink-driving.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16884056 (full paper at http://www.distraction.gov/download/research-pdf/comparison-of-cellphone-driver-drunk-driver.pdf).

http://www.which.co.uk/cars/driving/driving-advice/mobile-phones-and-driving/how-dangerous-is-texting-and-driving-/

GingerBob_3

photome wrote: »

So they should

On my travels yesterday I saw 4 different drivers using their phones.maybe the penalty should be raised again

Come on. You do occasionally see this, but it is quite uncommon now. But guess what? The last time I saw it - a few weeks ago - the offender was a traffic cop, in uniform, driving a marked vehicle.

Buellguy

GingerBob wrote: »

Come on. You do occasionally see this, but it is quite uncommon now. But guess what? The last time I saw it - a few weeks ago - the offender was a traffic cop, in uniform, driving a marked vehicle.

Quite uncommon, where the hell do you drive, the moon!!!!! took a trip into town on the bike 2 days ago, it's 2 and a half miles, all 30 limit (pedestrians around everywhere and one of those roads where you really do need to pay attention) and I counted 7 people using phones. I've even seen (and reported) a paramedic ambulance driver using a mobile whilst driving (!!!!!! you think she would have known better)