Caught on the phone while driving

JustinR1979

sh0597 wrote: »

Obviously I meant more from a moral viewpoint. Almost everyone has infringed some rule or another at some point. You actually can drive "a little bit drunk" as we have the most tolerant alcohol limit in the world.

Didn't tests show drivers were safer after a little drink, due to being more careful as they didn't want a pull?

topdaddy_2

:money:

sh0597 wrote: »

I've used a phone a couple of times to make a quick text, probably shouldn't. Think i'll sort myself out with a hands free system. In all honesty though it depends on context. Quick text while stopped at lights isn't really an issue. People driving one handed through a complex junction while distracted is an issue.

The issue is that people think "a quick text" isnt the issue.

ElefantEd

I don't think the issue with using mobile phones whilst driving is the severity of the punishment. It's the low probability of being caught. I would be quite happy if offenders got 1 point and £20 fine every time they did it, rather than a ban and a £10k fine once in a blue moon. Don't know how this could be achieved though.

Richard53

ElefantEd wrote: »

Don't know how this could be achieved though.

Reverse the policy of the last 20 years and put resources back into actual policing?


I'd agree with your main point. The probability of being caught is a far greater deterrent than a severe punishment that you are not likely to get.

lister

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Didn't tests show drivers were safer after a little drink, due to being more careful as they didn't want a pull?

Nothing to do with trying to drive carefully - that only happens after a reasonable amount of booze and people fail miserably - it is precisely what can alert an officer to your state.

It is all to do with alcohol at very low levels actually improving various physical characteristics. Ever played pool down the pub and discovered that between about half a pint and one pint down the line you are playing at your best? Another pint or two and then performance drops considerably (strangely I'm sure I remember my wife saying the same thing )

Trouble is that it is impossible to predict what level that improvement occurs at in different people, and it is a very low level. So the only sensible way to legistlate against drink driving is to discourage it completely.

BeenThroughItAll

Richard53 wrote: »

Reverse the policy of the last 20 years and put resources back into actual policing?


I'd agree with your main point. The probability of being caught is a far greater deterrent than a severe punishment that you are not likely to get.

I've often wondered what mileage there would be in a campaign whereby if every driver who witnessed another on the phone called the police to report it, the call centres would receive so many calls that eventually it'd be a risk to operations not to simply put more bobbies out there to catch the offenders.

ado

ElefantEd wrote: »

I don't think the issue with using mobile phones whilst driving is the severity of the punishment. It's the low probability of being caught. I would be quite happy if offenders got 1 point and £20 fine every time they did it, rather than a ban and a £10k fine once in a blue moon. Don't know how this could be achieved though.

It is very difficult for police to catch people using hand held mobile devices. On the way to work I see loads being used but as soon as I get in my work car that % drops rapidly as most members of the public are fully aware of the law and drop their phones at the first sign of a police car. There are also many times when I can't physically stop a car as I'm on my way to another job or they are in an on coming lane on a road where its difficult to turn round and follow them somewhere safe. More bobbies would even up the odds a bit but even then only a small % of people would be stopped and either punished or words of advice given.

poppasmurf_bewdley

ado wrote: »

It is very difficult for police to catch people using hand held mobile devices. On the way to work I see loads being used but as soon as I get in my work car that % drops rapidly as most members of the public are fully aware of the law and drop their phones at the first sign of a police car. There are also many times when I can't physically stop a car as I'm on my way to another job or they are in an on coming lane on a road where its difficult to turn round and follow them somewhere safe. More bobbies would even up the odds a bit but even then only a small % of people would be stopped and either punished or words of advice given.

Doesn't your work car have real time video? I would have thought it simple to 'mark' the video each time you saw someone infringing the law and send out a penalty notice when you get back to the station. Or are things not that simple?

I know that if I stood with a camera on the junction at the side of where I used to live, I could photograph at least a dozen drivers on the phone every hour.

ado

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Doesn't your work car have real time video? I would have thought it simple to 'mark' the video each time you saw someone infringing the law and send out a penalty notice when you get back to the station. Or are things not that simple?

I know that if I stood with a camera on the junction at the side of where I used to live, I could photograph at least a dozen drivers on the phone every hour.

Most police cars don't have any sort of video recording facility as that tends to be restricted to specialist traffic vehicles. Secondly the human touch works well particularly where it is debateable if a driver is using a phone or not eg where they have their hand to their face making it look from a distance that they are on a phone.

poppasmurf_bewdley

ado wrote: »

Most police cars don't have any sort of video recording facility as that tends to be restricted to specialist traffic vehicles. Secondly the human touch works well particularly where it is debateable if a driver is using a phone or not eg where they have their hand to their face making it look from a distance that they are on a phone.

Ok. Understood. Thank you.