Soldato
6 points & £200 fine for phone while driving going live today
- Thread starter Diddums
- Start date
Having checked the source in one of those above articles it appears they added in their own interpretation as "Motorists are allowed to use hands-free phones – but must not press any buttons on their phone to make calls." made their list. Can't find that at all on the Think! website.
I have a BT set i'm going to use from now on - just link the phone up to it prior to set off and control everything from that. My phone has always been in my pocket when driving unless using navigation, I'd just not not want to ever risk it again with it being 6 points if caught "interacting" with a phone in the car even if on my dock.
There is no risk if it's mounted, don't worry about it just because some journalists have made bizarre extreme interpretations of it 
You're no more at risk of prosecution from pressing the 'accept alternative route' button on the TomTom app than you were last week.
You're no more at risk of prosecution from pressing the 'accept alternative route' button on the TomTom app than you were last week.
I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to even touch a bluetooth headset. Bloke in Hampshire was done a few years back for pressing the Answer button, it was on the news.
Man of Honour
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- 21 Nov 2004
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Would be a miracle if I actually saw a police car anywhere to enforce any rule. The number of people I now see ignoring roundabout giveaway rules and red lights etc etc. I find my built in systems more distracting than anything else.
Associate
If you can't be arsed to pay attention whilst driving, then don't drive. If you're looking down at a screen, you're not looking at the road. The penalty should be greater, in my opinion.
Associate
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I cant really drive safely these days or use my phone as my full attention is devoted to pot hole evasive maneuvers
Caporegime
Lol. So true.
Man of Honour
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Agreed. It is like a slalom course on the last few roads to my house.
Associate
It should be a one year driving ban imo.
Nonsense.
I think you'll probably find instances where people have driven when tired have caused more accidents and fatalities than talking on your phone, one memorable incident being the Great Heck rail disaster. Studies have shown driving when sufficiently tired is akin to driving when under the influence.
It's not punishable for obvious reason, but the risk to life is just as high if not higher.
Associate
Well I know someone who fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a HGV, car flew into the air and landed in a heap. Nobody was hurt luckily but it was so nearly a head on collision. The police have taken away his licence indefinitely. He is fairly old though. So it seems police will take your licence away for falling asleep.
Might as well just carry on driving then...
As most people don't do things like speeding, drink driving, dangerous driving etc etc because there scared of losing there licence.
So if you had no licence to lose what would stop you
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Soldato
"What would stop you" ? I would like to think Prison would stop someone, at least while they were kept away from the rest of us.
Hampton Court
Lucky I moved away, if that lycra clad wannabe PCSO did that to me I'd find a new use for his pump.....
Soldato
Surely you'd finish your cereal first?Hampton Court
Lucky I moved away, if that lycra clad wannabe PCSO did that to me I'd find a new use for his pump.....
There is no risk if it's mounted, don't worry about it just because some journalists have made bizarre extreme interpretations of it
You're no more at risk of prosecution from pressing the 'accept alternative route' button on the TomTom app than you were last week.
I do think they need to make it a bit clearer in terms of what you can and cannot do.
I dock my phone whilst driving to use waze. My car also has built in BT so i can scroll through my phone book and dial using the controls on the steering wheel, however if Waze tells me there's an alternative route, i have to accept or decline it, does that now constitute using a phone behind the wheel. And if it does, this should then get extended to all cars with built in GPS screens/radio etc.
Associate
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- 8 May 2009
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- 296
100% agree but in time I think it should go up.
To me this is similar to drink driving in the old days. It is now obviously culturally and socially completely unacceptable.
Mobile phone use is almost there. I think after a year they should make it £1000 fine and 6 points.
It really annoys me - I see it so often on the motorway. I also think there's some fantastic advertising for the dangers now. Really powerful real life stories where tragically innocent people have died due to phone use.
It's made me change my behaviour actually. I've never called anyone but I have had the phone within view and been distracted by the screen flashing up. But now I turn it upside down, Ignore it entirely until I stop.