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Texting Whilst Driving

Vinny said:
The first one that I saw was caused by an HGV driver who killed 3(?) people and caused total chaos as well, not to mention almost countless injuries. He hit the back of stationary traffic, one car was buried under his cab so that the rescue services did not realise it was there. One family who were killed were traced via their microchipped dog, also killed.
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2 of the 3 killed were friends of mine,Dave Daglish and his partner Elaine.
Both were very active in the community,volunteering in mens and womens groups,volunteering as drivers etc for local foodbanks,driving disabled people to hospital appointments etc
Elaine suffered with ill health herself (as did Dave(cockney) but was a lifeline to women fleeing domestic abuse,needing help to navigate the benefits system etc
and what was so important to the lorry driver-almost all the way from York to Bowburn in County Durham - he was checking dating sites
I believe his sentence was 7 or 8 years!
 
MikeMA said:
If you're lucky but that's not the point. There's a whole load of issues related to having a touch screen in the middle of the dashboard. YMMV
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It does as I have a BMW, touch screens are a crap solution. Apple Phones do have a driving mode which disables the phone.
 
Cheese said:
which I had set, and is totally useless because you just have to tap on “I’m not driving” to have full access. The thing must be placed out of reach.
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I can hands free answer a call, but cannot access the screen unless doing several touches. The ‘driving’ lock has actually forced me to leave the phone alone whilst actually driving. Go figure.
 
Sonority said:
6 points, £300 fine, plus a lot extra on your insurance.
Obviously not enough of a deterrent.
Until it is looked upon the same as drink driving it will persist.
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Unfortunately this won't work because it has to be policed to be effective. Those that don't give a 7055 know they can get away with it as the chances of being pulled are minimal.
 
My old car, a Citroen C3 Picasso had all useful info in a console at the bottom of the windscreen. Now, I have to look down and away from the road to gather the same info.
 
MUTTY1 said:
You need to look at a touch screen. Knobs or buttons can be accessed by feel without taking eyes off the road. I’ve been looking at car tests recently and just find it unbelievable touch screens are now the norm.
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I hope they’re a fad. I was talking to a Volvo dealer when I bought mine. The conversation turned to the new model of what I was buying and I told him why I wasn’t considering it. He agreed that it wasn’t as easy to use while driving and they’d had a fair bit of feedback about that. He was of the view that Volvo might reintroduce dedicated switches and knobs for some key features for subsequent model cycles.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
I hope they’re a fad. I was talking to a Volvo dealer when I bought mine. The conversation turned to the new model of what I was buying and I told him why I wasn’t considering it. He agreed that it wasn’t as easy to use while driving and they’d had a fair bit of feedback about that. He was of the view that Volvo might reintroduce dedicated switches and knobs for some key features for subsequent model cycles.
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Let’s hope so. I opted for Volvo rather than the ‘other two’ because they do spend a lot of their time in a tricky climate and can’t get too far away from being grounded and practical.
 
hifilover1979 said:
I've started back training at the gym I trained at for 20 years before Covid lockdown (not that it stopped the muppet who runs the gym as he made the national news for not closing etc) o_O

Only going there twice a week but going at around half 4, 5 o'clock and the amount of folk I notice looking down whilst stationary (generally young women and van drivers) and you can blatently see they're texting/WhatsApp'ing etc..

Clearly no shits are given until they roll into the back of someone... :rolleyes:
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Ditto Dan.

I see so many drivers looking down in the laps. I just want to scream at them.

My daily driver can read out texts to me and I can reply to the text by my voice. I chose not to use this later procedure as it's another distraction.

I do chat via Bluetooth but I still feel guilty doing this. It is of course, legal to do this ATM.
 
AnilS said:
Ditto Dan.

I see so many drivers looking down in the laps. I just want to scream at them.

My daily driver can read out texts to me and I can reply to the text by my voice. I chose not to use this later procedure as it's another distraction.

I do chat via Bluetooth but I still feel guilty doing this. It is of course, legal to do this ATM.
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Yup... Just fitted a Grom Audio Bluetooth & A2DP kit to the E39 so I've got full hands free and the phone works with 'hey Google' etc...

Still it only gets used when necessary. Head jnit shows who's calling or being called etc...

I do scream at the dickheads pal, more so when I'm right next to them & can see whites of their eyes haha :D

You watch them scrabbling then to put the phone down etc...

Just bloody stupid!
 
A screen is a big distraction. I press the right thumb wheel on the steering wheel, and talk to my car (as you can with Android Auto), I don't take my eyes off the road....ya gotta adopt :)
 
Anyone who drives and uses their phone, whether it's texting or a phone call, deserves to put in a pillory and have lots of rotten fruit hurled at them, then a long ban and an extended retest.
Nothing worse than someone who thinks their little chat is more important than driving safely and risking other lives.

Andy
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
Agree. I've just changed my car and opted for a previous generation model (Volvo) because the current generation is all touchscreen and I want to be able to hit a button for a system or service, if I'm driving.
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Company car is a Volvo and the touchscreen is sufficiently bad that I’ll never get another. Having to use the touchscreen while driving is a hazard I can do without. The BMW I-drive concept is far superior and safer.
 
Sonority said:
6 points, £300 fine, plus a lot extra on your insurance.
Obviously not enough of a deterrent.
Until it is looked upon the same as drink driving it will persist
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Sad to see that all the replies to the thread title agree on my observation of the prevelance of mobile phone usage by motorist. I think we at least need a government campaign reminding drivers of the potentially fatal consequences and of the penalties if caught should they ever see a policeman.

Unfortunately,, it is so widespread that it has become normalised behaviour for a lot of drivers now.

For example, recently during my early morning commute along country roads I encountered a driver of an American style pick up truck who was weaving all over the road often veering towards oncoming traffic. I was careful to select the right moment to overtake him and as I did I could clearly see he was head down texting so I shouted get off your phone. He was incandescent with anger and did all the usual stuff of driving to close behind me and then overtook me and tried a brake test. The episode finished when he sped of, pulled into a lay-by and was out of the car beckoning me to pull over so we could come to blows - needless to say I didn’t stop and continued on my journey.
 
It's ridiculous that it still happens, one of our cars has voice control and the other has a little aftermarket box on the sun visor which does the same job.

£60 to avoid weaving around or killing someone.
 
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