Mobile phones and driving
Obviously fining people is not working so the only thing left now is to confiscate mobile phones if people are still using them while driving.
That would, I believe, have more impact than a fine.
Bet you never get distracted from driving by looking at “Pretty Women walking down the street “
Should ban them ..
Especially when they blow me a kiss and want to take a selfie
Some inconsiderate drivers behind me get annoyed when I pull up abruptly - guess they just jealous
Brocky, you have just reminded me of an incident that was hilarious. Picture a divided road with a large grassy area between and a set of traffic lights. Add to your picture three council employees mowing the nature strip on a very hot day. What does a singlet wearing employee do on a hot day to remove the perspiration? That's right, pull the bottom of the singlet up to wipe the face. The employee who did that, just as the light turned green was a female with no bra and the front line of cars didn't move. Those behind us blew their horns as they couldn't see what we could see.
I drive and use my mobile phone all the time for years now
Havent had an accident
Much the same arguement that drink drivers used to put up. They too have been bought under control.
Seig Heil ve must bring zees people under ze control..
Reagan&Chewbarka, yes I do have passengers in my car, I don't need to take my eyes off the road to converse with them, as I mentioned in my post my phone is answered via the radio the control to answer the call is on the steering wheel close to where my hand holds the steering wheel. If research determined that this is just as dangerous then as a responsible driver I would stop doing it.
Do you take your eyes off the road to check your speed . With ever changing speed limits it’s neccessary for safe driving .
BooHoo Brocky, don't like being told what to do, the police can do things I can't do, what a child. Laws are in place for the security and safety of the people and unfortunately to keep some people safe from their own stupidity.
How long does it take to glance at your speedo, glance mate, a split second, totally different to texting, email, browsing the net and holding a phone to your ear for a phone call. One hand on the wheel, one on the phone at your ear and your mind is trying to listen to what someone is saying. Your concentration is on the call because it's harder to hear compared to someone in the car with you. In fact if things are getting dicey for me in a driving situation and I'm in a conversation with someone in the car I'll stop talking and concentrate on what's happening outside.
They made a law specifically for phone use because of the enormity of the problem, the massive distraction that it causes and the resulting carnage that can follow. Of cause there are other distractions in the car and outside of the car but the phone is major.
I just spent 10 years, 1 million kms driving around this country for work and countless times I've had people veering towards me over the centre lines as their head is pointing down at their phone. A few very close calls where I managed to move over enough not to be hit.
If you don't want to be part of society and accept that laws are made for the good of the people you can leave this country. Go to the UK and ride your bike without a helmet - maybe you'll come off your bike, bang your head and knock some sense into it.
Australia's rate of road deaths per 100,000 people put us 15th among the 32 countries that contributed to the International Road Traffic and Accident Database in 2013. Sweden had the lowest rate with 2.7, followed by the UK with 2.8 and Switzerland with 3.3. Despite its high and unlimited speed autobahns, Germany's rate was only 4.1 (11th of 32), ahead of both France and Australia with 5.1.
Yep UK would be a much safer place to drive than OZ with about half our death rate.
In spite of better weather conditions wide open roads our death toll per 100.000 although falling every year is still double that of UK .
The reason given by experts is our concentration on speed and not personal responabilty to become better drivers .
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/why-speed-isnt-the-only-factor-in-the-road-toll/6831300
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You want to throw in stats - why not spell out the full story, UK vehicles only on average travel 12,000kms per year compared to Australian average of 15,500. Average vehicle age in UK 7.7 years, 10+ in Australia. The UK last time I looked is a far, far smaller country compared to Australia. Our roads in rural areas are very poor and expensive to maintain due to the large distances. How many 100 kph zones are there in the UK on two lane roads that run for hundreds of kilometres - that's right not many, they don't run for hundreds of kms and they don't have as many 100 zones.
Why didn't you quote some other countries road tolls, you know a large country geographically like the USA - 10.6 nearly DOUBLE our rate or Canada 6.1. Or what about some smaller countries like Italy which should be smaller like the UK but their figure is 6.1 or Belgium 6.7, Greece 9.1, Austria 5.4, NZ 6 and Europe as a whole 9.3....yes 9.3 near double ours.
Mate the road is there to share, with good, average and poor drivers hence laws are in place to try to keep everyone as safe as possible with all the variables in drivers abilities.
I explained in my other post about why the offence of "driving without due care and attention" is not used. Mobile phone use is a greater distraction and in NSW carries 4 demerit points.
By the way that offence you mentioned does not exist in NSW, there's neg driving which it may be, don't know but that's only 3 demerit points.
Where is your speedometer Brocky, mine is close enough to my eye line to see it without taking my eyes off the road for more than a micro second, which isn't what the debate is about, the discussion is related to the moron's that think they can drive and text at the same time and the danger they present to all other road users and pedestrians, it is totally mind boggling that any sane person would consider driving and texting at the same time, that's the reason we need stiffer penalties to get the moron's off the road.
Unless you have your speedo projected up onto your windscreen you have to take your eyes off the road .
The conersation is about uneccessary nanny laws that we already have better laws for.
"it is totally mind boggling that any sane person would consider driving and texting at the same time, that's the reason we need stiffer penalties to get the moron's off the road."
I totally agree...for the life of me I just do not understand why people do not want tougher penalties for those morons using their phones while driving.
They are taking no notice of the law and the penalties already imposed. Ok if that is not working go to the next step...take away their phones...then they will take notice!!
I have noticed quite often that you respond to other people's post's without actually reading them, have another look at my post I clearly stated that You only need to take your eyes off the road for a micro second I didn't say you you didn't need to take your eyes off the at all, the whole point of the discussion is about texting when driving which would mean that your eyes are off the road for an extended period, I assume the laws that you refer to are the dangerous driving law or driving without due care and attention, so on that point I would agree, but some of the reasons for those laws can be for unintentional acts, texting while driving is an intentional act and should be dealt with accordingly with severest penalties, there have been many warnings over the years so texting while driving is a deliberate dangerous act, forget the excuses and stop this stupidity..
I suggest you read my earlier posts which you seem to have neglected to do with your normal haughty manner than seems vaguely reminiscent of another poster.
My argument is that there is no need for new laws when we already have a better one driving without due care and attention .
I feel the same about speeding laws that take no consideration of the conditions .
I wonder how many fatalaties are caused by people texting as opposed to other causes like speeding , drunk driving or just plain carelessness
My guess is Zero
The government has no right to take away your phone - people neeed it for all sorts of emergencies
The sooner they get you off the road the better.
Firstly you mentioned fatalities only - so what injuries don't matter, being a vegetable for the rest of your life would not be fun.
Straight from the Centre for Road Safety in NSW:-
Crash data from 2010 to 2014 showed there were 236 crashes where hand-held mobile phone use by drivers was identified as a contributing factor. This included seven fatal crashes and 116 injury crashes. These crash numbers are considered to be under-reported because of the difficulty of finding evidence of illegal mobile phone use at crash scenes. This suggests the size of the problem could be much greater.
This is NSW only and note the years, we're 3/4 years later now and this phone issue is gaining momentum very quickly.
Raphael is not on the road Reagan. He doesn't drive but takes the occasional walk around circular quay.
There is only one person on this site that doesn't respect any other contributor, and that title sits squarely on your head, I read the many comments you made and tried to respond to them, it seems quite churlish of you to suggest that I didn't read your comments after I accused you of the same, but that is usually a sign of immaturity, as for me being haughty I am not sure where that comes from, but that is your opinion and you are entitled to make that observation, along with a lot of the usual nonsense you come up with. I don't know who this other contributor is that you refer to, but the conspiracy theorist was on the other day maybe you missed it.
Lot of people use their mobile phone as a GPS whilst driving which makes them safr on the road as they are in the appropriate lanes whilst travelling.
Jim,I would be more than happy to be a passenger in your car. Wish there were more drivers on the road like you. Research actually shows that having light chat with a passenger actually improves the driver's mental acuity.
And YET ANOTHER accident caused by someone distracted by their mobile phone.
I hope the book is thrown at this bloody idiot. Running down two policmen at an RBT stop.
"THE young driver who severed the foot of one police officer and injured another when he ploughed his car into them while distracted by his mobile phone has a lengthy driving record.
At just 22 years old, Jakob Thornton has already had four court licence suspensions and was
THE young driver who severed the foot of one police officer and injured another when he ploughed his car into them while distracted by his mobile phone has a lengthy driving record.
At just 22 years old, Jakob Thornton has already had four court licence suspensions and was banned from driving in 2016 for using his mobile phone while driving, court documents said.
The Ruse man was refused bail on Saturday after he was charged over an incident where he ploughed his Fiat van into two officers at a road side breath test - again allegedly distracted because he was sending a text on his mobile.
The Ruse man was refused bail on Saturday after he was charged over an incident where he ploughed his Fiat van into two officers at a road side breath test - again allegedly distracted because he was sending a text on his mobile.
Apparently one of the police officers lost his leg.
He lost his foot and 15 centimetres up his leg and lost a great deal of blood.
He may even lose more of his leg.
Poor man!
In light of what happened at the RBT station saw on TV this am that there are calls for instant loss of licence if you are caught on mobile phones.
Hopefully they will set up cameras to catch these stupid criminals and the magistrates pull up their game.
Brocky1 week ago
My argument is that there is no need for new laws when we already have a better one driving without due care and attention .
I feel the same about speeding laws that take no consideration of the conditions .
Whatever laws that are in place are NOT working. I sincerely hope they take away their licences if using using a hand held phone and also remove their phones for a month...that should teach them a lesson...nothing else is working. Fine and demerits are useless apparently.
Last year there were more than 1,000 flu related deaths — 90 per cent of those were people aged over 65.
The Government is offering free vaccine to those over 65
Crikey with such a crisis they should make it compulsory
I drive and use my mobile phone all the time for years now
Havent had an accident