What's my driving conviction code?

esK` said:
One hand on the wheel means you don't have full control of the car. Get a blow out at 60 or 70 while using one hand on the wheel and the chances are you'll be spinning to an early grave. I've nearly lost it when my car blew out a back wheel at 70 while having both hands on the wheel the back end just went loose on me and had a right fight with it.

Concentration is severly reduced while on the phone as you have to think to be able to talk back to others, Unlike a radio where noise is coming out and you dont have to think of a way to answer back to that.
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I'm surprised you even bothered to put together a serious response to the points PMKeates and Mr Anderson are trying to argue.

On the one hand we have PMKeates, who does 80mph in 30 limits, thinks that DSC will save him and drives whilst using his phone.

On the other we have Mr Anderson, who uses his phone and eats "Maccy D's" whilst driving, and also uses his palm to steer.

Not exactly pick of the litter when it comes to good drivers now are they?
 
Was on a coach to newcastle last week. A woman in a golf passed us doing over 80mph with a phone stuck to her ear, laughing away she was. No way was her concentration on the road..... :rolleyes: Beggers belief.
 
I won't even use my phone on a HF kit in the car, never mind hold it to my ear. I just turn the thing off. If someone really wants to get in contact with me, they can just wait until I'm done driving.
 
I can't hear my phone over the wind and engine noise on the bike when going at a reasonable pace.

Can't hear the phone when going slowly due to the loud thudding of a 1000cc V-Twin ;)
 
Gaygle said:
I'm surprised you even bothered to put together a serious response to the points PMKeates and Mr Anderson are trying to argue.

On the one hand we have PMKeates, who does 80mph in 30 limits, thinks that DSC will save him and drives whilst using his phone.

On the other we have Mr Anderson, who uses his phone and eats "Maccy D's" whilst driving, and also uses his palm to steer.

Not exactly pick of the litter when it comes to good drivers now are they?
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What's wrong with that? I tend to drive with only one hand most of the time and have yet to have an accident.

Granted, I always use a HFK with my phone.

What does make me laugh is all the jumped up righteous people who post in these kind of threads. If you think talking on your phone, hands free or not, is a distraction, I must assume that you never have your radio on or talk to anyone else if they happen to be in the car?
 
Wossi said:
What's wrong with that? I tend to drive with only one hand most of the time and have yet to have an accident.

Granted, I always use a HFK with my phone.

What does make me laugh is all the jumped up righteous people who post in these kind of threads. If you think talking on your phone, hands free or not, is a distraction, I must assume that you never have your radio on or talk to anyone else if they happen to be in the car?
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Ah, the "it hasn't happened yet so I will always be safe defence"

:p
 
Talking to someone in the car is entirely different, as if you stop talking to perform a manoeuvre they can see that and don't carry on talking. You need more concentration to commit to a conversation on the phone in general if it's a serious conversation. If it's just a "hi I'll be back in 1hr or so... do you need me to pick anything up from the shop" it's far different.

It's not about being self righteous it's about being sensible when you have the potential of serious repercussions if you're not paying attention. People take driving in such a lacksadaisical manner it's quite worrying.

I have the radio/music on at low volume so it doesn't distract me. Then again on the bike I tend to hum/sing to myself as I can't do anything else! :D
 
Gaygle said:
I'm surprised you even bothered to put together a serious response to the points PMKeates and Mr Anderson are trying to argue.

On the one hand we have PMKeates, who does 80mph in 30 limits, thinks that DSC will save him and drives whilst using his phone.

On the other we have Mr Anderson, who uses his phone and eats "Maccy D's" whilst driving, and also uses his palm to steer.

Not exactly pick of the litter when it comes to good drivers now are they?
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I wasn't fully aware on what their driving habbits, I was meerly putting my point across.

Now I know I shant rise to it again.
 
for example just today, some arse in a mini could barely stay in his lane on a narrow twisty dual carriage way as he was nattering away on his phone.
****ing annoying as he forced me into the gutter as i was passing him
 
Freefaller said:
Talking to someone in the car is entirely different, as if you stop talking to perform a manoeuvre they can see that and don't carry on talking. You need more concentration to commit to a conversation on the phone in general if it's a serious conversation.:D
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Which can be mitigated with proper technique. The magic words "hang on a sec" before you do anything more complicated than keeping the car in a straight line on a motorway work wonders, or if you are actually planning ahead you should have time to ask them to hold and explain why. eg. "Hold on, I need to overtake this lorry".

Agree that hand held vs hands free doesn't make much difference, but if hand held (prior to the ban, of course) you need to plan far enough in advance that you put the phone down on the passenger seat.

Of course most folk just like to gab and not pay attention. I try to avoid speaking to people like that. My solution is a badly installed handsfree kit that sounds perfect to be but introduces an annoying echo to the caller. If what they are calling me about is really important then they will put up with the echo but if not it'll annoy them and make them go away.
 
I don't think that mitigates it at all, you have to make the conscious decision to warn them - it means you're concentrating and remembering to deal with the call first. I don't care what people say, driving takes a lot more concentration than people realise, it's a massive responsibility, certainly when you have the ability of killing yourself and others so easily. I've been cut up and nearly shunted by people on the phone - were it not for the fact that I can't afford to have a record I'd probably have done something I regret. I'd have no regrets giving such people a bloody nose - bar perhaps being a thug which isn't really me - but it does make my blood boil, certainly when they put my life in danger.
 
Freefaller said:
I don't think that mitigates it at all, you have to make the conscious decision to warn them - it means you're concentrating and remembering to deal with the call first.
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Uhh no, you warn them before the manouvre because you had it planned in advance.

I don't care what people say, driving takes a lot more concentration than people realise, it's a massive responsibility, certainly when you have the ability of killing yourself and others so easily. I've been cut up and nearly shunted by people on the phone - were it not for the fact that I can't afford to have a record I'd probably have done something I regret. I'd have no regrets giving such people a bloody nose - bar perhaps being a thug which isn't really me - but it does make my blood boil, certainly when they put my life in danger.
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So you've had someone do something stupid and dangerous and afterwards noticed that they were on the phone, therefore all people who use a phone (even the ones you haven't noticed because they didn't do anything to draw your attention) must be stupid and dangerous.

I'll accept that the vast majority of phoner drivers these days are useless, but professional drivers (eg Police, HGV, taxi) have been using similar systems for years without problems. Admittedly two-way radio is a little different because both people involved in the conversation know that the main task is driving and therefore they keep it short, to the point and don't get offended if the driver doesn't give an immediate response. There's no reason that this can't apply to mobile phones. They're just more expensive and more complicated radios after all.
 
Lum said:
Uhh no, you warn them before the manouvre because you had it planned in advance.
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*facepalm*

So when someone pulls out in front of you, you're going to say "sorry, going to have to call you back, just need to scrape my face off my windscreen"

At the end of the day, its a law that we all have to abide by - your phone call really isnt that important (no, its not) to risk it regardless of your opinion on how safe you think you are. If you don't like it - tough, everyone else manages to stick to it. Either write to your MP, move to a country where it's legal or buy a hands free kit for 20 quid
 
uhh no, if someone pulls out in front of you, you just shut up and deal with the situation. This is so bloody obvious I didn't even bother to mention it. If you are using a hand held (be it mobile or CB) then just drop the damn thing, you can find it later. (Of course, plenty of mobile phone idiots can't even get this bit right, and attempt to perform evasive manouvres with the phone still in one hand and a cup of coffee between the legs) it should take no longer to get rid of the bloody phone than it would take to return your hand to the wheel from the gearstick.

Oh and I have a hands free kit thanks, I stated as such in post #33, I never use the phone hand held. Hands free makes you legal but it does not change the fact that the conversation is the main distracting factor. I am just sharing some tips on how to manage the distraction that is said conversation.

I still object to the hand held = illegal, hands free = ok ruling for a number of reasons

- It's the conversation which is the problem, not the use of a hand held device
- It is yet another example of the government choosing to make important what they can measure, rather than figure out a way to measure what is important (see also: speeding vs dangerous driving)
- Prior to the ban, many folk knew that mobile use was a bit naughty and kept it to a minimum or for emergencies. This ban forces them to buy handsfree kits and now that they've spent the money, they are damn well going to use them.
- Basically the same as above, companies that have fitted handsfree kits to company cars are going to require that their sales and engineering staff answer calls while driving. Thanks to this I am now obliged to take complicated tech support calls that previously I could've let roll over to voicemail.

What I actually do once it's clear the call will be a long one is keep the customer holding for minutes while I get to the next service station or layby. Surprisingly all of them are perfectly ok with this and are quite happy to hold, so all I need to do is give the occasional update to assure them that I'm still here and how much longer it's going to take, but then I mainly deal with the police so it'd be pretty hypocritical of them to whinge about it.

Oh and the last one, if I park my car and then switch to hand held for the purposes of sound clarity or privacy, I commit an offence if I happened to leave the engine on in order to keep the heating or aircon on the go. Even with the handbrake on and the gearstick in Park, it's still an offence and people have been done for it.
 
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Lum said:
Uhh no, you warn them before the manouvre because you had it planned in advance.



So you've had someone do something stupid and dangerous and afterwards noticed that they were on the phone, therefore all people who use a phone (even the ones you haven't noticed because they didn't do anything to draw your attention) must be stupid and dangerous.

I'll accept that the vast majority of phoner drivers these days are useless, but professional drivers (eg Police, HGV, taxi) have been using similar systems for years without problems. Admittedly two-way radio is a little different because both people involved in the conversation know that the main task is driving and therefore they keep it short, to the point and don't get offended if the driver doesn't give an immediate response. There's no reason that this can't apply to mobile phones. They're just more expensive and more complicated radios after all.
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No if you read what I said, I said "I'd like to do..." not "I will do..." - two entirely different ways of phrasing the sentence.

No, you can't warn them before a manoeuvre - because sometimes you have to perform a manoeuvre quickly and instinctively. Maybe you have a larger brain capacity than me but when driving down a country road, I try and take in all the road surfaces, iron works, hedges, hidden exits/entrances, oncoming cars, cars behind me, bikes, people, and as many hazards on the road - doing that and talking, as well as feeling the car and controlling the car is too much for me to dedicate run time to all of it, it's either one or the other for me. I don't know how you're able to have an in depth conversation and be aware of everything around you... either you're not paying attention to the call (which as the caller I'd find most frustrating) or you're not paying attention the driving. Either way, even if you're only giving 70% on the driving, that's 30% too little IMO.

I admit and concur, that if I were driving at 20mph then I'd feel much more comfortable chatting on the phone, that is one point I will concede. However driving near the speed limit on a country road or the motorway (no matter how busy) requires some dedication to the actual task at hand, i.e. driving.

I think even "professional" drivers have little excuse for being on a phone/radio - and as such should keep it for emergencies or urgent situations - such as the police responding to a 999 call, or a crime in progress etc... furthermore a lot of traffic patrols have 2 officers in the car so the non driver can use the computer and make radio calls.

You may be a driving god with the brain capacity of 50 men (and possibly a woman seeing how stubborn you're being...) however I urge you not to have an in depth conversation on the phone in the car whilst driving... if you do, please don't be anywhere near me.

As you say, people drive badly enough as it is these days - giving them something else to distract them with is absolutely daft.
 
Freefaller said:
No, you can't warn them before a manoeuvre - because sometimes you have to perform a manoeuvre quickly and instinctively. Maybe you have a larger brain capacity than me but when driving down a country road, I try and take in all the road surfaces, iron works, hedges, hidden exits/entrances, oncoming cars, cars behind me, bikes, people, and as many hazards on the road - doing that and talking, as well as feeling the car and controlling the car is too much for me to dedicate run time to all of it, it's either one or the other for me.
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On that type of road you wont find me accepting a call. I don't care that I am obliged to do so by work, I'll worry about the excuse later and I agree with you that doing so is stupid.

On motorways, who said anything about doing the speed limit? I'll usually end up dropping down to HGV speeds and moving into their lane to free up a bit of processing time.

Taking a phone call while driving at 20mph? bad idea if it's a 20 zone, or a road that actually requires 20mph driving then there are going to be kids running about, old/blind/disabled people and idiot teenage mothers who push their pram out into the road so they can stand on the curb and look to see if there's any cars coming, not to mention speed bumps, traffic calming, pot holes and god knows what else.. no, just no.


These things can be done safely, by someone with a lot more skill and experience than me, who has been trained to do it properly, eg. the police. I wont do them myself but I accept that it is possible for others to do so. Knowing what you can and can't do within your own capabilities is the majority of the battle and something far too many drivers fail to achieve (whether we're discussing phones or any other aspect of driving)
 
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There's plenty of research that shows that even talking on a hands free kit gives you a similar response time to someone that is over the drink drive limit.

PMKeates, I hope you never end up hurting someone because yet again it sounds like you shouldn't be on the road.
 
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