Mobile Phones Behind Privacy Glass!

[Hi_Camry]

Last week, this driver pulls up in his motor, can't see him/her due to blacked out windows F & R. Rolls the window down to ask directions, he's also on the dam phone, with no hands free!

This is a double insult to us law abiding drivers, since this punter dont get done by the boys in Blue for the Phone offence coz they can't see him due to his illegal glass!

So if I put false (+ dodgy font plates on my motor) I can freely zoom around like death race 2000, because I'm untraceable. Shall we all start behaving like this, sounds like we can get some real driving in at last....

[Kelvyn]

Its amazing just how many people do still hold their phone while driving. I suppose they dont see it as a high risk of being caught. Does the window tint thing not come into the MoT test then??

[JappyBeast]

Hope you gave him the wrong directions!

[vmail]

tell him to make his own handsfree

[nws25]

Tinted windows laws have/are changing, I believe very minimal tinting is allowed, and thats it. And they'll be clamoing done with anyone who doesnt abide.

I still drive and hold a phone. They should have kept the law as it was, unless you were driving carelessley or without due care and attention then there is no reason to get pulled.

[vmail]

Tut

[Ken]

Tut

God give me strength, your meant to drive with 2 hands on the wheel, does that make it illegal to change gear?

You can't have a twix but you can smoke a !Removed!

Next thing it will be illegal to indicate because you need to move one hand to the switch, nobheads

[nws25]

Tut

Is that a typo?? :D

I'm now a non-smoker, but the amount of times I've flicked a !Removed! out the widow for it to come flying back in, or dropped the cherry in between my legs, I tell thee, that makes you lose your concentration

[dazwan]

...I still drive and hold a phone...

I have to side with vmail on this one (althoguh I'd have said "tsk..").

Think of it this way, if you were to have an accident (it's the other persons fault) and you were on the phone at the time. They could try and make out it was your fault as you weren't paying attention and most likely win. Maybe I should do it next time a BMW comes hurting down the road as I can't rememebr the last time I saw a BMW where the driver WASN'T talking into a mobile.

And besides, why should I have to spend money on a hands free because the law says so, only for all the other drivers to get away with breaking the law. If a BMW driver can afford a £30k car surely they can afford £10 for a cheap handsfree kit! apparently not! I guess they spent all thier money on the flash car and are in too much debt to afford the £10 to stay within the law.

[dazwan]

Next thing it will be illegal to indicate because you need to move one hand to the switch, nobheads

BMW drivers are leading the way in this campaign! :P

[Geese]

Tut

Is that a typo?? :D

I'm now a non-smoker, but the amount of times I've flicked a !Removed! out the widow for it to come flying back in, or dropped the cherry in between my legs, I tell thee, that makes you lose your concentration

Ah man the amount of times i've done that in the night too. You sit there taking glances at the red glow in the footwell trying to figure out which is the filter end so you don't burn your fingers when you pick it up at the next red trafffic lights which never come ! :D

[srd]

i was driveing a mates car once droped the ciggie,and the son of a bi*ch,rolled under the seat into the back,talk about panic stations.

im not a bit fan of people on the phone while driveing,but worse than talking are the text message brigade,who just have to send a reply no matter what.my mate chris is one of these people and on more than one occasion ive felt like grabing his phone an throwing it out the window.

[Hi_Camry]

Just got in from an experience where this woman in a golf was behind me fo 3 miles, chatting up a storm on her Mobile whilst driving, no hands free, hand josticulations the lot. She nearly ploughed into me a couple of times. Was this becase it was, a) a Golf, B) a hand waving chatterbox maniac or c) Spaced out on the mobile?

Vehicle reg started with an X and ended in ERR (I have the rest but best not print for legal rasons, however does Err also add a Psycological edge to the question?

[nws25]

The thing is, making something illegal doesnt neccesarily mean that doing it was wrong in the first place.

I drive a 280bhp supra, and a £10k Alfa, when I answer the phone without a hands free kit, I do so in a safe manner.

When I'm driving along the motorway on a glorious day, not much traffic about I drive more than 70. Yet if its heaving with rain, I'll do less than 70, where some will still do 70 when it's clearly not appropriate.

Its all about YOU. If your a bad driver, it will show, wether deep in converstion on a mobile phone, or excessive speed in the wrong conditions.

[ZeroBlade]

i agree thats its totally dwn to the driver.

but then again i kinda get the other side also.

u havta cater for every1. so makin this law for all drivers will include those that can drive with due care, and those w/o.

still the law was made for hte benefit of the people therfore i think it should vary on a case to case basic, but hey, that'l cost money that can be wasted on other gov'mt crap...

kinda like this fast food tax i was reading about. 'spose simple solution to that is if the person looks like a fat ***** then charge em tax, otherwise don't!

-Z

[Yarisboy]

I can't believe people are actually siding with those who hold a mobile phone to their ear whilst driving....

And as for this consistent & constant bmw/golf/german car bashing I see on the TOC forum... not only is it pathetic, it's also unwarranted... most probably driven through jealousy in repeat offenders *waits for the encore of denying laughter*

Back to the phone/driving issue anyway, saying that some people can talk on their phones without affecting their driving is likening drinking and driving in the same manner; i.e. some people can handle a drink and drive ok, and some can't... it's absurd.

If you're not going to abide the law like everyone else then I hope you get caught and fined repeatedly.

[Funkadelic]

If you're not going to abide the law like everyone else then I hope you get caught and fined repeatedly.

Agree with you, apart from one one little thing - Speeding (note, "Speeding" and "Excessive speed" are two different things before anybody decides to bit my head off;)

[DazH]

Don't wanna side with anyone here, just bring it into context ;)

I do remember reading in one of my bike mags last year about a youngish lad who had been killed on his motorbike. He got hit head on by some car whilst negotiating a bend, not cos he'd strayed over the lines because of excessive speed, which I admit I've done on my bike as I'm no angel, but because the driver was dialling a number on his phone!!! He'd cut the apex of the bend. Does make you think <_<

[Yarisboy]

and for those that insist they can drive whilst txt'ing/dialling/talking with a phone held to their ear... ok fine, but what about the other driver on his phone that's headed your way on a roundabout/town centre/nasty corner/ etc oblivious to the fact he's about to cause an accident?

The 'i can talk on my phone and drive fine' does not wash with me i'm afraid... Don't get me wrong i'm sure there are people who can use their phone and drive perfectly... as i'm sure there are people who can drive perfectly on a pint of beer or a 'marijuana cigarette'.

Laws like this have to be put in place to deal with the masses, cos not everyone is smart enough to know when/how to appropriately use their phone in the car.

I think points would be more of a deterrant than a fine though... police driving fines are just an excellent excuse to commit daylight robbery to fund their £60-80k range rovers and mercs ... amongst other things <_<

oh and funk, I agree there is speeding and excessive speeding

sorry if i've upset anyone, i'm just speaking what I feel is common sense :)

[nws25]

Your missing the point of 'common sense'

Do you drive with the radio on?? sing along to a decent song?? talk to any passengers you might have?? change tapes/cd's while driving, alter your stereo in any way while driving?? row with the misses??

Dare I say it "speed"???

Talking on a hands free kit is just as dangerous as holding a mobile phone, it's just another tax on the motorist that doesn't take the conditions into consideration.

[vmail]

should we just sit like zombies?

[yannick]

There was a report from a research group (in a UK uni I believe) a year or so ago that said that when you're concentrating on a phone call you're using 10-15% of your brain power, and it comes from the same part of the brain that needs to concentrate on the road. They likened the reduction of attention due to this to a few pints of beer.

This is not counting the problem of holding the phone to your ear, it's just the conversation, and is as valid for a hands free kit.

Takling to your passengers also reduces the amount of attention available to your driving, but not by so much. Listening to the radio has the same effect.

Think about it. Admiting to using the phone at the wheel should be considered as bad as admitting to driving under the influence.

'Nuff said.

[nws25]

Admiting to using the phone at the wheel should be considered as bad as admitting to driving under the influence.

You can't be serious??

Whats your view on breaking a stated speed limit then??

[Yarisboy]

nws25,

speeding has nothing to do with this argument... god knows why you have brought that into the equation.

if you're holding a phone to your ear you have one less hand on the wheel, what happens if you then get into a situation where you need TWO HANDS to steer yourself out of an accident?

I'm not going to argue with you, carry on doing it if you want... I consider it irresponsible and i'm sure many others do.

an excuse for government taxation it is, but an excuse to ignore it... it isn't.

[yannick]

Admiting to using the phone at the wheel should be considered as bad as admitting to driving under the influence.

You can't be serious??

Whats your view on breaking a stated speed limit then??

refer to what the report said, a little higher in my message:

when you're concentrating on a phone call you're using 10-15% of your brain power, and it comes from the same part of the brain that needs to concentrate on the road. They likened the reduction of attention due to this to a few pints of beer.

If you want, I can try and dig this report out...