Except people get killed by drivers on their phones too. So...What exactly is your argument? It's ok not to intervene if you might die, but screw it if someone else might?
Report driver on phone?
- Thread starter Nevakonaza
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Except people get killed by drivers on their phones too. So...What exactly is your argument? It's ok not to intervene if you might die, but screw it if someone else might?
Yes, I do ignore every minor crime I see. I wouldn’t ignore things like robbery, rape etc for obvious reasons. Where are you drawing the line here? People doing 80 on the motorway? People going through an amber light? People eating an apple whilst driving?
Where are you drawing the line?
I’m drawing the line at reporting any minor motoring offence whatsoever. The only offences I would report would be serious offences that would likely result in jail time for the perpetrator - running down a pedestrian and driving away, that type of thing.
If you want to live in a society where people report you for every tiny transgression, then please go ahead. Just don’t assume everyone feels the same way. Surely you’ve broken laws a few times in your life?
So an action that is proven to risk lives to you is a tiny transgression?
Theft would likely result in jail time but tends not to risk the lives of others.
What an odd moral compass to have.
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Quite, it's remarkable just how many wannabe traffic cops there are in here. I can honestly say it's rare for me to go out drinking locally without being fully aware of one or more people driving home well over the drink limit, having un-taxed or none MOT tested cars or plain seriously un-roadworthy ones. I'd spend more time on the phone trying to interest some cop call centre than I would drinking if I were to pursue all this, and probably get beaten up next time I went out. I have even been asked to go and look for someone's car because they were too unsteady to go walkabout remembering where they'd parked it. I advised circumspection, but it's their call. He was a much loved local vicar now sadly deceased. I can't personally see using a cell phone is any worse than fiddling with the myriad of gizmos that now adorn every high end car's dashboard, even setting the heater is akin to defusing a nuclear bomb. But the law is the law and I don't use my phone when driving myself, in fact I don't use it much at all, but I know plenty who spend most of their journeys to and fro work nearly constantly jabbering away with no hands free. It's perhaps an age thing, but I have enough problems of my own without policing my fellow motorists.
Theft frequently risks the life of others. I’ll ask again, have you ever committed a motoring offence in your life? Would you be happy with people recording your every move when driving and sending any offences to the police? It’s a simple yes or no answer. If you are happy with that, then fair enough, that’s your right. I equally have the right to have no desire whatsoever to live in a world like that.
Nope. Squeaky clean. I am clearly happy with people filming me when I drive, hence why I have no problem with people using dashcams and actually have them fitted to two of my vehicles.
You obviously have no desire to live in that world hence why you live in a narco-state with representative driving standards! Remind me, how's road safety over there compared to here? I know where I'd prefer to live!
Theft rarely risks lives, if it does then it's a different crime - tends to go under the aggravated tag or robbery tag. For example, if I stole a car it's unlikely to result in death is it? Whereas idiots on their mobiles whilst driving killed at least 33 people in 2017. Fancy telling the families of those killed that "pft, it's just a tiny transgression, get over yourselves"?
I hate people who do it. It's dangerous and there is no need to do it. I'd quite happy see the day where every car is either driverless and sticks to the speed limit, or telemetry is uploaded straight to the police. We have this system for our transport division where the drivers are awarded a bonus for clean drivers. I don't know if it's just me who's turning in to an old grumpy ******, but the amount of dangerous driving I see on the road is getting silly.
Soldato
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I'm all for reporting crimes, but don't try to enforce the law yourself.
Example -
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/watch-two-idiot-drivers-block-half-a-motorway-for-no-damn-reason/
Self appointed lane / merge in turn enforcers are the bane of my commute!
Example -
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/watch-two-idiot-drivers-block-half-a-motorway-for-no-damn-reason/
Self appointed lane / merge in turn enforcers are the bane of my commute!
Think that might be the most ignorant response I've ever had on here. I posted a nice, reasonable reply saying you had the right to want to live like that, but I personally wouldn't, and you respond by making a ridiculous statement about where I live. I try not to let myself get drawn into these types of things, but in for a penny I guess....
When I was walking in a nice London suburb, I was robbed of my bag at knifepoint. When I lived in a fancy area in France, my car was stolen and burnt out. I've not had a single issue of any kind since I started living here. I'm assuming you've visited my area and had some sort of bad experience, otherwise stating that I live in a narco-state is like me stating that the entire north of England is a poverty ridden dump (which, of course, I don't believe).
As for road safety, I prefer to focus on my own driving rather than going around preaching to others, therefore the driving standards here don't bother me whatsoever. Personally, I'd be far more bothered by some weirdo following me around with a camera than I would be by the guy in the car next to me on the phone. We obviously disagree, so why don't you continue living your life that way, as I've acknowledged you have every right to do, and I can continue living mine.
Getting the same way myself - rarely a day goes past any more without there being a serious accident on the roads I drive most days (A30, A303, M5, etc. within the Somerset area mostly) and in a good number of cases it is obvious that lack of care and/or not paying attention such as being on the phone is to blame.
I find it quite sobering that people don't take it more seriously and have a very dim view of people driving like idiots.
Something I've had arguments online with more than one person over but I strongly believe that multi-lane carriageway merging needs a serious education campaign - relatively recently there have been changes to the highway code over how it should be approached which especially older people are completely out of the loop on regardless of whether they are possible to re-educate on it or not. Part of my job involves debriefing the van driving side at work and even a good number of professional drivers aren't upto speed on the latest changes which have been relatively low key slipped in compared to other updates.
Infact I will quote it here as there are probably a good few who aren't aware of the update to include merge in turn as a recommendation which is more recent than some seem to think.
www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rule134 said:
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Interesting read. Probably putting myself to the stake but I'm the same as @Phate and @geekman. I just have better things to do with my time than take pictures of and try and police other drivers. I'm not somebody who drives while on the phone but probably break one law or another fairly regularly be that speeding or whatever.
So many wanaby law enforcers in here, wont lie the responses caught me by surprise.
So many wanaby law enforcers in here, wont lie the responses caught me by surprise.
I am sure you have far better things to do than report bad driving. I never reported anyone before and once the dashcam died like a year ago, sacked off that as well, not that I used it for much anyway.
It's pointless waste of personal time. I'd much rather enjoy driving and simply laughing at the bad driving observed.
It's pointless waste of personal time. I'd much rather enjoy driving and simply laughing at the bad driving observed.
Soldato
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I'm talking people blocking two lanes by driving down the middle at 2mph about a mile from the merge, as they don't think you should go past and consider it queue jumping.
The other one is multi lane traffic lights where everyone is in the left, which blocks the entire road up. Eg I have some traffic lights with two lanes for straight on, one for right, with a keep left island not far from the lights. The queue in the left is so long it goes past the island, so I can't get past to turn right when it's green and miss entire sequences, which wouldn't happen if both lanes were used correctly.
Soldato
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NVM
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That was absolutely blood pressure through the roof stuff, right there.
I consider myself to be of slightly above average intelligence, and I couldn’t see any legal way out of that, the jerk driving the Kia was never going to let anyone past without risking a scrape to their bodywork, his dumb disciple in the Ford likewise.
The only legal way that came to mind, was to inform the police, but stress that they would have to approach from the other direction, and then maybe close that side, while they crossed to sort out dumbo.
But think how long that would have taken.
The best thing that could have happened, for the 1 or 2 guys who had unsuccessfully tried to reason with the Kia driver would maybe have been that once it became apparent that he was so intransigent, someone really incensed, 4 or 5 cars back, would come up, drag him out, put him down, then drive his car on to the central reservation, force his keys down his throat, or drop them down a drain, and leave him there.
When the police asked for witnesses, everyone develop myopia, and pray that no camera picked the incident up.
Sure it’s illegal, sure it should NEVER come to that, but how DO you deal with a berk like that?
The obvious elephant in the room here is the level of "policing" going on. Would I go out of my way to record people on their phones? Would I install a camera for that reason? No, of course not, and neither would any of you. But if I already had a dashcam / tailcam installed and it happened to catch someone who was very blatant about it, it would be half the job done, and next time I'm cutting footage I'd probably cut that little snippet out and send it off, why not? Maybe others have done the same and he's due some legal correction, then why not?
There are of course those who take it to extremes, like that fella who was literally hiding in bushes to catch cars driving on the wrong side of the road. In cases like that I firmly believe he should have his bicycle folded in half and shoved down his throat.
There are of course those who take it to extremes, like that fella who was literally hiding in bushes to catch cars driving on the wrong side of the road. In cases like that I firmly believe he should have his bicycle folded in half and shoved down his throat.
Soldato
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Maybe just mind your own business or make an application to your local constabulary.