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Mobile phone law

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
So there is to be a new law to make it an offence to drive while using a mobile phone if you are caught. Your ok if you use a hands free kit but what id like to know is why will it take till December for this law to come out? Why when we have new laws passed should it take so long to come in force? Always has baffled me.

Also I think this law should have been brought in a long time ago. For the price of a hands free kit why are people so irresponsible by talking on their phone with one hand at the wheel and the other holding the phone? Its stupidity, especially when they can be going around a roundabout or doing 70mph on a motorway, utter stupidity in my opinion.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I agree. I board in the states and the ones on the phones never see me.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Unfortunately, most concentration is lost not by holding the telephone but by talking on it. I suppose both hands on the wheel means more control, but the law does not go far enough.

    Oh well, I suppose it is a start. The gap, since you ask, is procedural- it takes time to get it rubber-stamped by the Queen, for starters.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Kermit
    Oh well, I suppose it is a start. The gap, since you ask, is procedural- it takes time to get it rubber-stamped by the Queen, for starters. [/B]

    Excuse my ignorance but does she have to agree to a new law first?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by BeckyBoo
    Excuse my ignorance but does she have to agree to a new law first?

    If a Bill is not given the Royal Seal of Approval it is not an Act of Parliament, and it is therefore not law. Technically the monarch could block any law he or she chooses to.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Kermit
    If a Bill is not given the Royal Seal of Approval it is not an Act of Parliament, and it is therefore not law. Technically the monarch could block any law he or she chooses to.

    hhmm thanks :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    One thing I can't stand is careless driving, especially those who use their phone whilst driving. Can any phone call actually be so important as to risk your life or others?

    Sooner the legislation is introduced the better.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You see peoples whose job involves driving so why do the companies not provide hands free kits anyway ?
    You see wagon drivers, bus drivers, taxi drivers etc whos job involves being on the road all day so for the sake of what £20 they could be safer on the roads, it just does not make sense to me.
    Come December though I bet hands free sales rocket through the roof wont they.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think it's stupid. It doesn't go far enough. Hands free kits should be banned too, as Kermit said most concentration is lost by concentrating on the conversation as opposed to the road. According to the report issued by MPs today a driver on a hands free kit still takes longer to stop his car in an emergency than a "moderately drunk" driver. Also you still need to dial the number using the phone, and what about text messages - can people still sneak a peek at them at the traffic lights? Plus if someone is pulled over for using the phone as normal they can just say they were dialling the number for a hands free conversation. Plus drivers still have to faff about with the headphones.

    Mobile phones should be banned from drivers full stop.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by kevlar85
    Also you still need to dial the number using the phone, QUOTE]

    My hubby has voice tags so he does not have to dial. The names and numbers are pre set in his phones so all he does is say
    "the battleaxe" and it calls my mobile ;)
    Also he has his on auto answer so that means he does not have to look for the reply button.
    I personally think hands free kits should be allowed (as they are), in some jobs you could be on the phone 50 times in an hour arranging meetings etc.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by kevlar85
    Mobile phones should be banned from drivers full stop.

    absolutely

    there really is no need.
    If someone is that important they could stop and check for messages every hour at a service station/lay-by and there by have a break from driving which would also reduce the risk of falling asleep at the wheel..

    But, if phones were banned completely (it has been said that its the call not holding the phone that causes the problem) then banning radio/music/talking should also be considered.

    Becky if someone has to arrange meetings on the phone while driving, how do they put that in a diary? if they have to remember 10 meetings then that will take there mind off the road (esp. men who are not so good at multi-tasking!)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hobbs yeah after reading what I put I have to agree trying to arrange appointments when driving is pretty stupid. But lets take my hubby I can phone him while he is out on the road just to see what time he's home, what he fancies for tea etc. My hubby does a lot of driving and he can be out from early morning till late at night so mobile phone is the only contact I have with him.

    To be honest I only phone him if there is a reason I would not phone just to say hello. I also know roughly where he is so if its the middle of rush hour traffic then I just wouldnt phone.

    I personally think as long as you are using a hands free than its fine. You are in control of the vehicle as you have both hands on the wheel.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I agree that hands-free kits should be banned too. If people are busily arranging things and doing their job from their car, then they are not concentrating on driving. If you want to be able to use your phone, write things down etc. then there is the bus or the train. Now I appreciate some people are "oh so busy" people i.e. those business people who always seem to be doing something, but what is more important than risking your life or other people's lives?

    Car accidents are just terrible and I know people who have had their lives destroyed as a result.

    Aren't mobile phones in the car banned in America? Or was there just a lot of protesting? Because I can remeber watching a programme with parents of children who had been killed by drivers who had been using their mobile phones.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the law as usual is an ass. it does not cover radio comunication as in cb radio. still hugely popular with truckers believe it or not.
    the idea is right though. i have been guilty but not since a guy on his phone drove through a crowd of shoppers about two yrs ago in front of me. somehow no one was hurt.
    but ...coppers etc are busy chatting away whilst driveng.
    i think one of the most distracting things is lighting a fag. ok if you use the in car lighter but pulling one out of your pocket and trying not to burn your nose ...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by BritJames
    what happens if you're on the motorway, stuck in a traffic jam, calling a loved one, work, rellies friends to cancel dinner or something; and a traffic cop whizzes down the side and fines / "points" you.

    Kerching, and example of which I had yesterday.

    Driving down the M1, found that there had been an accident between Jct9 &10 southbound and that the motorway was closed. So, using my hands free system, I rang my wife to tell her a) that I wasn't involved, in case she saw something on the news and b) that I would be a little later home than I had said - in the event it was over 2 hours.

    So from that perspective the phone was useful.

    However, as an exception to that rule, I have to say that I had to switch the phone on in the first place because I won't drive whilst my phone is switched on normally and I can't see any reason why anyone should. It is, without doubt, a hazard and agree that it should fall under the guise of "driving without due care" and this is an offence already. So why do we need a new law?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Please excuse my lack of correct knowledge, as it seems I am lacking, but.

    A couple of months ago (April I think), when I was at school in a PSE lesson, we had a lovely policeman come in to tell all us little children that it's terribly naughty to drive while under the influence of alcohol. Blah blah. Anyway the subject turned to driving while on mobile phones, and I definately remember him saying that from that day (I remember it was that day because he checked his watch to see what the date was), motorists seen using mobile phones could be fined either a minimum of, or up to £40 (I forget which).

    So that would say to me that on that date, it became illegal to drive while using a mobile.

    He then went on to comment on hands free kits, and then he mentioned a new law which would make hands free kits illegal. I remember this because he said that it would cause problems for the police as they use hands free radio things, so in order to be legal they'd have to pull over every time they recieved a radio call.

    I dunno if I misunderstood the points being made. I probably did. I don't doubt for a second that you lot are much more clued up than me on things to do with driving and the law. But that's what I was told.

    Then again, I never did listen much.. :rolleyes:
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