BS: Drivers using mobile phones

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 08:07 PM

fines for using mobile phones while driving might well be as good a cash cow as those for speeding.

Great. The more the better. Ideally there would be no income from fines because people would stop being such bloody fools, but until that happens it means money available to be spent on things we need money spent on.

Fines are a form of voluntary taxation. I'm all for that.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 07:54 PM

Any drivers caught with a phone in their hand should have a phone implated in them, so they don't need to use their hands.


Implanted, with great force, in any convienent orifice....

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: DougR
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 07:52 PM

Bill D.: I use my cell phone about the same way you do. Probably not even thirty minutes a month. I only use it when I really need to, not for friendly chats, and never while driving.

I think the big problem with outlawing or bannig phone use in a car is enforcement.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST,Ranter
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 06:57 PM

The worst for me are the urban cellphone users who make a show of being "connected" to someone else at all times; of having "important business", which is usually a description of what they're gonna get on their Whopper, or something some other idiot said to a third idiot.

They misuse music in the same way: to represent themselves on a public screen as they drive past. They imagine that their identities are cemented by their proximity to some loud and over-produced soundtrack. It's tiresome and unconvincing of anything but the pathetic nature of urban street theater.                                                                                                                     

It's just so much representation of self-importance, and attention-seeking behavior, that, comically enough, costs them money to perform.   

People are afraid these days of silence, because it points them toward their own thoughts. They're afraid of a few minutes of down-time, or any space not filled up with some tinny reification of their "identity".

"This is me: I have important business all the time, and I get calls from all my people, constantly."

"This is me, sitting at a light in my car, all the loose metal on my Buick shaking to the beat, making a show of how "into the music" I am."

"This is me, aggressively foisting all my decadent shit out onto the world, and you have to accept me this way, or I will go off on you."

"I am what I do, and my public persona is a constant show of surfaces."

Idiots. We're beings who are going to die, and we wander through life waving our hands and shouting about "being ourselves", which in the case of urban youth is a totally media-derived-and-driven fiction, as if that will forestall the inevitable, or exempt us from becoming dust. It's not being alive, it's being asleep.

Turn your cap back around (better yet, throw it away if you aren't playing baseball), pull up your pants, stop shouting, turn down the soundtrack, and just be. Just be. Impossible, I realise, but that's what I want to say. Hang up that bullshit phone, turn off the cd player, and drive the fucking car.

Ok I'm gonna go shower now.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 05:07 PM

I've had a driver behind me gesticulate with both hands whilst sole occupant of the car... not uncommon, but he had a phone in each hand and was talking to 2 people at once!!

Make 'em pick up litter by the side of the roads for a month or so... and if they get hit by another driver not paying attention because they're on the phone... well.. that's karma.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Rasener
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 11:39 AM

>>the car was left hand drive, and the driver was perfectly in control, no matter how excited the passenger became.<<


That must be Vin Garbutt when Flossie Malavialle takes him to a gig.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: HuwG
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 08:30 PM

Not sure of the details; but the UK lawmakers might have caught up with the notion that fines for using mobile phones while driving might well be as good a cash cow as those for speeding.

I presume that secret cameras will be placed to photograph cars from the driver's side; photographic evidence, cough up and 3 points on the licence.

****

A policeman I know once pulled over a car, as the driver was not only using a mobile phone, but also gesticulating with both hands. Ooops, the car was left hand drive, and the driver was perfectly in control, no matter how excited the passenger became.

I'm not too sure whether SatNav systems are not also a major distraction; they have a nasty tendency to direct drivers into shopping centre car parks, or make recommendations for the potentially dangerous, "Do a U-turn now", when they ought instead to be looking for alternate routes.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Peace
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 06:02 PM

I would not have a cell phone turned on while I'm driving. The damned calls distract me from my reading.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 05:45 PM

100!!!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 04:14 PM

I suppose if you're a bit screwed up and like talking to yourself with your hand to your head it must be great these days, because instead of people thinking you are crazy, you just blend in.

I do sometimes wonder how many of the people wandering around holding interminable conversations on their mobiles actually have anyone on the other end.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 04:03 PM

As a conceptual artist ( a good crazy artist ) I sometimes feign having a cell phone conversation in the midst of other loud people actually having a cell phone conversation.

Things like: "Never mind the quarantine, you get on that plane and get back here immediately. There is probably no such thing as Marsburg virus, what is it, from Mars?"

"Thats nonsense, a christian conservative would NEVER do such a thing!"

"No the doctor said they never saw anything like it. MM Hmm, Well first thing was all the blue colored puss..."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Social conceptual artists have been known to frequent a Starbucks with 8 different people doing normal things like a couple aruing over smoking, a guy walking through quickly with a small boombox playing {this is ground control to Major Tom], a woman who exclaims loudly I Forgot My Money and hurries out...

But they do this in an identical sequence in multiple time loops that take about 12 minutes each.
For people who are there for 20 minutes or more, they begin to get rather freaked out and start calling a friend to tell them something wierd is happening,

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 02:54 PM

BIG difference between using it for a minute in a store to check exact needs with wife, and sitting in a restaurant, chatting all during the meal and disturbing folks 3 ft away. And WAY different from using it in a moving vehicle.

I have one...use it 'maybe' 30 minutes a month, precisely to do things like clarify shopping lists with wife when the store is out of something, or give somone an update about when I'm arriving on a trip. (I do wait until I'm stopped to make a call!)

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 02:51 PM

I use mine the same way The Villan does. And to find each other in big shops. They are handy things to have - but as for conversations, I'm sure in a few years they'll find out those rumours about them frying your brains if you spend too long on them will turn out to be true. Five to ten seconds is enough for me generally.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 02:34 PM

I wrote a story about the case of revenge against cell phone drivers as well as a picture of a human nervous system ( no skin ) driving at 70mph with a cell phone in its ear.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Becca72
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 12:28 PM

I have no problem at all with someone making a quick call from the store to ask a question "honey, they don't have X, will Y be ok? yes, thanks". DONE. It's the people who stand there and describe their latest doctor's appointment or the famous "oh, I'm in the store, but I can talk" and then they get into long drawn out conversations that I have no business nor desire to hear...

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Midchuck
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 12:19 PM

Here's a fun trick. If you're in a crowded public area like an airport terminal, and you see someone walking toward you while talking on a cell phone, stop and stand still. When he (or she) walks into you, he will ask you why you don't watch where you're going. Then you point out politely that you were standing still at the moment of impact. Then he takes a punch at you for being a wisess...

Well, maybe it isn't that much fun...

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Rasener
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 11:52 AM

My missus does wroite it down, but if thay haven't got something she has asked for, she doesn't like it if I don't check with her what replacement she wants. Iam not hen pecked really, but soemtimes you have to think what makes life better LOL :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 11:48 AM

You are how old ? And you can decide what to substitute, Phones are a minor problem when we get to that stage of human ineptitude.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 11:44 AM

Get yer missus to write it down fer chrissake and get out of the aisle. What did yer do before...starve ?

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Rasener
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 11:04 AM

>>I would also like to see them banned from shops. people phone home to see what they are meant to buy...I ask you, how much more ridiculous can humans be ? <<

Well I do that and I am 61 :-) If I can't find exactly what my missus wants, I have to ring her to see if any substitute is acceptable, otherwise I get it in the neck when I get home. No point in upsetting her. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 10:37 AM

Also ban them from Libraries. I have stopped going to the public library because cell phones ring non stop. A lot of this abuse of public space is perbetrated by ten to sixteen year olds giggling away to some one at the next booth. They also do this on the local bus, kids at the front of the bus phone kids at the back of the bus...I would also like to see them banned from shops. people phone home to see what they are meant to buy...I ask you, how much more ridiculous can humans be ?

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 09:40 AM

Saw a good one today... chap in a big people carrier who not only was dialing on his mobile, whilst moving, but was actually holding his finger over the number in the book he had balanced on the steering wheel... this in a street notorious for kamikaze pedestrians, inattentive teenage boy racers, 5 different double decker bus routes, poor visibility over the bridge and a zebra crossing.

He wondered why someone at the bus stop was shouting at him to pay attention to the road, as he pootled along at about 3 miles per hour, holding traffic up for a good 800yds and presumably steering with his knees.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 08:58 AM

I think we ought to ban mobile phones in cars...period. In fact, I should like to see them banned from restaurants, theatres,schools, anywhere that they bring grief to the general public. If ever there was a nuisance invention, the mobile is it. No one is SO important that they must be available to all and Sundry at any time..vanity, vanity. As for driving, they contribute to the risk of accidents, therefore ban them.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST,Terry K
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 05:23 AM

There was recently a report of a guy in Hampshire who took vigilante action. Apparently if he spotted someone using a phone he followed them to their destination and spiked their 4 tyres once they had left the vehicle. The general tenor of the report was that this was shameful behaviour on his part but I have to say that part of me applauded what he was doing. Don't know if he ever got caught.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: JennyO
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 09:58 PM

Yesterday there were two of them that held me up. I chose the lane with the cab in front as we were approaching a green light, because usually they are pretty competent drivers and don't waste time. Not this one - he got slower and slower and eventually stopped as the light turned orange, and I was stuck behind him. GRRRR! We were crossing a main road, so it was a long wait. Some time later when the light went green again, he started up at a leisurely pace, letting the cars on the other two lanes go past, then had to stop and merge because there was a car parked on our lane. As I went past the parked car, I could see that the guy was sitting there with a phone stuck to his ear, oblivious of the chaos he was causing, and when I was finally able to change lanes and get free of the taxi, I saw that the taxi driver also was deep in conversation on his phone, and still travelling slower than the traffic around him.

We have fines here in NSW (in Oz) that you think would put people off, but it doesn't seem to. Maybe it's because the mantra of most seems to be "Thou shalt not get caught" and nobody seems to be enforcing it.

This is from a government agency:

GET THE MSG: Don't talk or text when driving. Talking on a mobile phone or texting is fast becoming the biggest distraction facing drivers today. Up to 80% of Australians own a mobile phone and many are using their mobile phone illegally while driving a car. The results of driver distraction can be horrific and deadly. Driver distraction is also a major cause of minor car crashes, in particular rear-enders.

What does the law say?

It is illegal in all Australian states and territories to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving – this includes sending or receiving SMS messages. The penalty for being caught talking or texting while driving in NSW is a $225 fine and the loss of 3 demerit points.

Hands-free kits:

It is not illegal to drive using a mobile phone with a hands-free in-car kit or portable hands-free device. However, it is recommended that you park your vehicle before using or answering a mobile phone.

Research has shown that using a hands-free does little to lessen the risk of a serious collision (Study completed by the George Institute for International Health (2005)). Using a hands-free in-car kit or portable hands-free device while driving is the equivalent to having a blood alcohol concentration of .08. The legal blood alcohol limit for an unrestricted driver in NSW is .05, and for young drivers the blood alcohol limit is zero.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Peace
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 09:28 PM

True, Rapaire. If Darwin was right, they'll figure it out in a few million years.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 05:41 PM

Well, it IS a self-correcting problem....

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Pistachio
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 04:49 PM

I observed seven 'phoning-motorists' this morning while on a 45 minute commute along foggy winding roads. One young female, waiting to exit a junction, three 'white-van-men' two truckers and the tractor driver (noticed only when I was able to pass him after 4 miles at 22 mph!!!) I've regularly passed cyclists on the pavement (another illegal act) who are actually able to text message on the move....

      They should all be fined heavily!
Like Villain says - confiscation of phones might make people think twice!                           

I believe that some people have absolutely NO consideration for the world beyond theirs. The police have too many rules to enforce and will never be able to get the crime fighting / law enforcement balance right. The ridiculously low fines don't 'phase' any would be offenders into thinking, even for a millisecond, about how 'their call' could cause any grief. Until someone is involved in /or deals with the aftermath of an accident that is 'mobile' related they don't comprehend just what consequences can arise from a lack of patience. Just let it ring!
Stay safe.
Hazel.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 04:45 PM

When the Kansas Turnpike was new, it had the highest legal speed limit in the US...80MPH. Still, many treated that like they do most speed limits and assumed they could exceed that by 10-15%....I think there is this 'wisdom' that the law NEVER means exactly what it says.

Folks did learn better on the Kansas Turnpike when they found out that the toll tickets were stamped with entry time, and when they left the toll road, it was easy to calculate elapsed time and issue tickets based on the average speed over the limit!

So...what happened? Guys who loved speed would drive 90-100, stop for lunch, then finish their trip. There is some innate wiring in some, (fueled by testosterone, I guess) that says that the posted speed is the minimum

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Peace
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 03:55 PM

OK, Dave, and thanks. I have wondered about that for years. Must be that the speedos are made by the same folks who make the gas gauges. Thoise friggin' things seem to be screwed too.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Rasener
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 03:53 PM

he he my daughters keep an eye on me. Watch my speed and comment and won't allow me to use a mobile. In fact i get a bollocking if I attempt to eat a sandwich. So they feed me. What a life eh :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 03:47 PM

Speedometers can be inaccurate for many reasons, Peace. For the reason if the speed of a drver over the limit here in the UK is within 10% + 2MPH (Ie 30=35, 40=46 etc) then no-one will press. What does make me laugh is that people think this is an invitation use the the leeway instead of the limit. Just imagine that your speedo is measuring 'light'. It shows 30 when you are actualy doing 35. You think you can safely do 35 but that is actualy > 40. Then people wonder why they are fined! Incidentaly in a recent test of a large number of different cars it was found that at low speeds the speedo did consistantly measure low while at higher speeds it measured high. You wouldn't think it was rocket science to get it right but it is apparantly a constant puzzle to the motoring trade. I must test mine one of these days - I can compare the speedo to my hand-held GPS!

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Peace
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 01:51 PM

Funny you say that, because speeds are posted on many secondary roads here as 80 km/hr. Main highways it's either 100 or 110 km/hr. But tickets aren't issued unless someone gets the speed to about 110 in the 100 and 120 in the 110. Hell, when is the law the law?

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Rasener
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 01:32 PM

I know and thats the worrying problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Peace
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 01:26 PM

Villan: Essentially, in many places the laws are already in place. It don't mean dick (North American use of the double negative and the whole expression means "It amounts to little") because the laws are NOT enforced.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST,Kwitcher gabbin'
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 01:08 PM

To the woman who stopped thisclose to the side of my car after running a stop sign and still didn't drop her phone, I say hangin's too good for 'em!

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Rasener
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 12:05 PM

Get the police to confiscate the phone, put them on a banned using a mobile blacklist with all mobile companies for a year, fine them £1000 and 6 points on their licence. If caught again, then banned from driving for a year.

The law needs to get tough.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Midchuck
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 11:10 AM

All earlier rants to the contrary notwithstanding, I think using a handheld, at least, while actually driving, is equally as dangerous as DUI, and should be punishable at the same level. It won't happen, of course. For the same reason that pot is a crime and booze isn't, even though you can make a good argument that alcohol is more dangerous. You can't get legislation through if the big money doesn't like it.

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST,Andy
Date: 17 Oct 06 - 10:37 AM

Have read these posts with interest, as this driving whilst using a mobile phone thing is one of my pet hates. Why do these people regard themselves as being above, beyond, or more important than the law and the safety of their fellow citizens? However, more to the point, what can be done about them? What changes should/could be made to the law to discourage them from committing these offences? Apart from the unspeakable punishments mentioned in the first few posts, would stiffer penalties discourage this misuse? As someone pointed out, the current penalty in the UK is a thirty quid fine. For a lot of people that's only two or three hours wages and probably regarded as a gamble worth taking. Suppose the penalty was a £1000 fine and six penalty points on their licence? Would that change the behaviour of these selfish, arrogant and dangerous people?

Regards

Andy

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Bonecruncher
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 10:45 PM

I think the actual quotation is "If the law supposes that", said Mr Bumble, "Then the law is A ass". (Charles Dickens).

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST,Tattie Bogle
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 09:37 PM

What hope is there of enforcing the law on using mobile phones while driving while just this week I saw a Police Officer on duty doing just that? Even while working as an on-call GP I didn't do that, but would pull in as soon as I reasonably could to answer the mobile while stationary.
And also saw a driving instructor smoking in his car while driving: he may not have had a pupil on board but surely this is contravening Scotland's anti-smoking law, not to mention having one hand partially incapacitated by holding the cigarette.
In the meantime I'll probaly get done by the traffic mafia tomorrow, for parking on a single yellow line while helping my son to move into his new flat - or worse still, having my nearside wheels on the pavement so as not to obstruct the flow of traffic!
Who was it said " The law is an ass"?

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: terrier
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 05:35 PM

Thanx Becca 72
pissed off- exasperated and poss. angry...BRIT

Thanx Peace...
"The fly on the toilet lid was pissed off" has two meanings as you can see, and can in this case means 'are able to', not loo or dunny.

Sorry, too much to take in....please explain....too much Guinness and a bit slow tonight.....

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 05:32 PM

Nubile PHONES?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Peace
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 05:27 PM

BTW,

Women crash more than men. BUT . . . .

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Peace
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 05:14 PM

In Canada, "I was pissed" could mean either 'I was drunk' or 'I was very angry'. It has to be said in context. However, "The fly on the toilet lid was pissed off" has two meanings as you can see, and can in this case means 'are able to', not loo or dunny.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 05:13 PM

Sources for that assesrtion, Mick? Personal observation, starting with the difference between the way my wife and I use the phone. My impression is that men generally seem to bark a few words into the phone and ring off and maybe make another call, whereas it's more commion to see women walking along having a conversationn as they go.

Of course this is in England - it might be different elsewhere. And it might be that my impression on this matter wouldn't stand up to closer scrutiny.

But a survey in Sheffield of the length of text messages does fit in this idea of a gender difference in how we use phones (I think the numbers here would probably be average number of letters)

Men texting men: 60
Men texting women: 74
Women texting men: 80
Women texting women: 82

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 05:08 PM

Am I right Americans also use "pissed" for "angry" while in England it means "drunk"?

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Becca72
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 04:44 PM

"BTW, What is the American equivalent of 'PISSED OFF'"

Terrier,
We Americans say "pissed off". Here it means angry...not sure if that helps, or what it means in your part of the world.

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: Divis Sweeney
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 04:03 PM

And have you noticed you are not in fashion without a bottle of water in the other hand while walking down the street with your mobile. It was the filofax twenty years ago. In my young it was a slice of pan loaf with jam on it !

Subject: RE: BS: Drivers using mobile phones
From: GUEST,Kwitcher gabbin'
Date: 16 Oct 06 - 03:54 PM

Although it's been against the law to use a mobile handset while driving in NJ for some time, I've yet to see anyone stopped for it.

I spend equal amounts of time as a driver, train passenger, and pedestrian and, in my unscientific observation, no mode of transport is safe from the incessant yakking on phones. You'd think everyone would have run out of things to say by now.

On the pedestrian front, I've noticed lately that far too many people, upon reaching the middle of the crosswalk, are overcome with an irresistible urge to stop walking and dial their mobile phones.

One of the saddest, most awkward things I've ever seen was a group of four at a restaurant. Three were gabbing on their mobiles. Felt sorry for the unloved fourth. I was half tempted to extend an invitation to join our table for some real live conversation.