I don’t agree that there is ever a safe time to use a handheld phone whilst driving - it’s just too much of a distraction, especially if you’re texting.
She says she can text without taking her eyes off the road - I’d like to see that.
She obviously did take her eyes off the road, or she wouldn’t have run into the other car.
I know I must resist it, but there are times when it is is tempting to argue that stupid people should be locked up to protect the innocent regardless of other laws!
Everything she says is consistent with the modern “I can do what I like and everything is not my fault” line that accounts for the irresponsible compensation culture we have these days.
She will end up in side and is digging a deeper hole. However, I agree that even a two year prison sentence will screw up someone’s life and is a deterrent. Does anyone think that a phone call is worth that?
At least someone who spends that time in side has a chance of building a life outside on release. All the evidence is that sending someone down for five years or more simply costs us all in destroying their life, and all the lives they touch with no way back.
This was not a pre-meditated death, but death through arrogance and ignorance. The answer will be by education and changing attitudes and vengeance never did that.
One thing that dismays me is that there has never been a concerted TV and poster campaign illustrating the dangers of being distracted whilst driving.
Ones I have seen on my travels include -
- Talking on Mobile
- Dialing on Mobile
- Texting on Mobile
OK, no surprises there!
- Lighting a cigarette
- Eating
- Drinking
Again – nothing too surprising.
- Applying lipstick
- Applying eye shadow
- Applying mascara
OK – I suppose looking in the mirrors is good. It is probably the only time some of these women use them! But how about -
- Applying lip balm with both hands at 40 mph! Yes. One hand holding a container, the other applying to the lips – no hands!
We don’t want our drivers to get bored, do we? So when crawling forward through traffic why not -
- Complete a crossword
- Solve Soduku
- Read a newspaper
- Solve a wordsearch
- Read a trashy celebrity magazine
- Read a novel
- Play around with your Ipod
Now I want drivers to know where they are going – map reading is an underestimated skill. You can -
- Read a map on your lap
- Read a map on the passenger seat,
or my favourite method -
- Pin your A to Z to the wheel with the heel of your right hand whilst you turn the pages with your left!
But best of them all was the driver who had a PDA stuck to the windscreen of his car as he drove at 10 MPH in queue approaching Westminster Bridge -
- Playing a game!
“She also told the court she could send and receive messages without taking her eyes off the road.”
so hows she reading them then…silly moo
Got to agree Guiliano, changing perceptions and attitudes isnt about jail sentences. Jail is totally no deterrent as no one expects to go to prison for it or to be killing anyone by doing it…
But the reality is that millions of people do do it without harm, and thats the reason it will be almost impossible to stamp out… just like speeding…millions do it and millions get away with it, every now and again one or two people get hurt because of some foolish act, like texting, like reading a map etc etc…and whilst it would be great to have no deaths on the road for any reason I do not think that further more onerous regulations will help…or putting people into prison for such crimes…
These cases show that the laws are not working and something else has to be done to try and educate and focus peoples minds towards the potential dangers, but again to be honest if we spent all our time driving thinking about the dangers I doubt any of us would drive at all…
In perspective, there are 22million road users…there are 3000 deaths each year its a tiny proportion…I know its still not good but is it really worth the millions we spend in chasing nirvanha…I dont think it will exist until we have roads and vehicles all managed by computers. No human involvement…
I can remember when drinking and driving was treated with the same casual attitude as driving whilst distracted. What changed attitudes was not locking people up, it was increasing the chances of being caught, and making the penalty an instant ban. Backing this up with information on the effects of drinking and the accidents and deaths it causes.
The authorities should do the same - there have been several recent cases of people being imprisoned for killing people whilst using phones etc. But what would work better would be increasing the penalty for being caught using a mobile to an instant 3 month ban and making sure a lot of people got caught. Once people saw they friends being banned, and the effect it had on their jobs and insurance etc, they stopped drinking.
To my mind waiting until someone has killed someone then locking them up is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
BTW - I cut and paste the above from blog a wrote some years ago - since then I have seen -
-
Typing out email on a Blackberry, and
-
Watching the 6 o’clock news on a TV screen!
2T, I wonder if you feel the same way about the driver who nerfed you off the motorway causing your horrific injuries earlier this year?:crazy:I’m sure they didn’t mean to run you off the road, as don’t the majority of careless drivers who cause death and injury to other road users.Where do we draw the line?Careless and dangerous driving should be punished to get it through to people that they are driving deadly weopons.Make an example of this woman I say:cool:
Modern cars are so comfortable these days they insulate people from the reality of what they are doing - e.g. piloting something at near/over a ton in weight and capable of exceeding 100 m.p.h. - couple this with the distractions provided by mobile phones, sat navs and in-car entertainment systems and it’s not suprising that stuff like this horrendous crash happens - there is evidence also that peoples attention spans are getting shorter with the pyschological impact of new technologies like the internet and mobile phones - eroding peoples ability to concentrate on one thing at a time - like driving - this is why I never listen to music on the bike - not that I need to - the act of riding a motorcycle is all the entertainment I need - what all this means is that people need to take driving seriously again - and not see the car as just another handy consumer item like an ipod - but as the powerful, dangerous machine that it is - e.g. it’s probably more dangerous than a chain-saw in terms of the amount of people you can wipe out in any given second.
These days when you come up behind cars ready to over-take - or you spot them waiting to pull out on you at junctions - you get a palpable sense that the driver is ‘not present psychologically’ in the moment - you know that chances are they are listening to the radio, thinking about work, getting to the bank before it closes etc etc.
As a biker I am finding that I am increasingly doing other peoples thinking for them - e.g. anticipating that the vacant cager in front is going to u-turn or pull out on me etc etc - but then this just underlines the fact that as a biker out on the public road we have to do everyone elses thinking - as well as our own if we wan’t to stay in one piece.
Great post Sid Throttle. 
Cheers Digger! 
Hi, I think it’s “was she aware of the risks” or made aware by chance seeing a poster, TV add or other, but could plead ignorance anyway. Was she making a conscious decision to entertain her friend over risking an accident. I know you live and learn and nobody wants that taken away from them with over policing and so on. But nothing has preference over H&S. So where does it go from here. IQ tests. Retrain all drivers every so often even the non-national licence holders. No I don’t personally think jail is the answer unless extreme disregard for the general public. A ban as above would work as a deterant and would definitely cut the mobile related accidents to a minimum
On another note has anyone ever been behind a driver texting/talking on a phone. How annoying is that. Braking 10mph less than… for a camera. Swerving in and out using 2 lanes trying to dial numbers.
I often thought of using a phone blocker strapped to the handlebars and pull up beside them.
2T, I wonder if you feel the same way about the driver who nerfed you off the motorway causing your horrific injuries earlier this year?:crazy:I’m sure they didn’t mean to run you off the road, as don’t the majority of careless drivers who cause death and injury to other road users.Where do we draw the line?Careless and dangerous driving should be punished to get it through to people that they are driving deadly weopons.Make an example of this woman I say:cool:
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No chunks I dont feel any enmity towards her at all, she caused an accident that I should have been able to avoid but for some damn reason, unbeknown to me I didnt.Accidents happen and sadly I have to say any distraction on the road can cause such an event to occur. But if you banned people for using car phones, what about eating, smoking, talking to a passenger, looking at your rolling GPS map, watching tv on your pop out dvd screen, shouting at the kids in the rear, the list is endless and I know we can all be sanctamonious about it but its totally legal in the US to talk on your phone, why not here. Confusion reigns and whilst this is the case people will always justify it in their own minds…as Guiliano says, ultimately its not the sensible reason of safety that makes people sit up and listen, its the risk of being caught in the act…and the potential consequences therein…but once it gets to the being caught stage the whole process has failed and I just cant condone someones life being ruined for the ‘potential to do harm’. Just like speeding or ‘going above the posted speed limit’, which is clearly only dangerous given a very special set of circumstances…Examples do work to a degree and if its publicised enough it will have a useful effect…punishment by imprisonment is not the answer, but retraining and retesting and some form of compensation to the vicitms family in my eyes is a much better way to resolve these martters…
Well they do say if you want to murder someone just do it in a car…
As the copper said up there she will only get 4 years max.
Problem is, getting caught on the road using your phone or even speeding is against statute law, in so far as you have not actually caused injury, harm or loss to anyone, but you are being punished for the potential of your actions to do so.
Whereas this girl, who through her own negligence and stupidity has killed a person should have the book thrown at her, if you make such a mistake that results in the death of someone else you must accept personal responsiblity. Regardless of it being an accident or not, the family of the dead woman wont care if it was an accident, they have one less daughter/sister/mother etc.
I see no problem doing 90mph on the motorway, but i am breaking statute law. I see no problem with a driver in gridlocked traffic using their phone, Now if i were to kill someone or that driver was to cause an accident it becomes something different entirely, We are not in a Tom cruise world of arresting people for crimes they may commit in the future yet, but those who have caused death by dangerous driving as i say should be heavily, heavily punished…
Who cares her life gets screwed… if a member of my family got killed by an ignorant moron I would want to see that idiot rot in prison forever, if his/her family suffers who gives a ****, they should have though him/her better common sense, something the majority of people seem to have missing these days.
The pain loosing a loved one in a sensless accident is beyond words. You have no right to tell anyone how to fell, emotions are uncontrollable.
Next you are going to tell me that the family of friend who got crushed by the crane in battersea last year should simply take it. It was an accident and that’s that, life is a bitch right?? NO, sue the blinkers for all they have, faulty cranes are not acceptable, idiocy is not acceptable means to get away with murder.
This is why our human race is getting worse and worse, because people become ignorant and accept stupidity and mediocrity, from crap movies to idiots in charge. I see the society going back to the stone age, is it me or does it look like the end of the world is getting close???
I admire your stance 2t but i don’t think i’d be as forgiving as your good self.
I don’t believe accidents just happen, they are caused and in many cases avoidable.
Have you noticed how the police don’t call them accidents now (RTA’s) They are now called incidents as the word accident infers that it wasn’t anyone’s fault.
yes i can understand all of that chunks and to a degree i can understand people wanting retribution but it doesnt work…for the past millenium and more retribution has been proven to not work…it is not the answer to punish the perpetrator, the idiot who causes the event…it just doesnt work…no one wins…
The only way forward is for the human race to accept its frailties, stop using the law as an excuse to abuse people and for us all to accept that life is a risk…some things should be inherrent, ie you should not kill harm etc…some things are just lifes risks, high speed travel in a mobile missile…for instance…
Then once we all become a caring people we will stop doing things so selfishly, we will accept that our actions may be harmful to others and our good sense, drummed into us from childhood and by the law and by people who are still in society who have been given second chances…By so doing we can bring the human race on…not to keep using vile punishments as a form of retribution…
Except…I do believe that there is a point of no return, ie three incidents and your out sort of thing…there is a point where society has to give up on a person and i dont think prison is the answer…bye bye mr or mrs for good…
I don’t know mate but the crime rate in Dubai seems quite low… don’t you agree? the fact that women can walk alone in the middle of the night is amazing…
Yes I know it comes with a price… but screw it… if that’s what it takes to have a civilized society… screw it, military regime I say:)
This is from another forum by some user that lives in Dubai. The sad thruth is people need to be afraid to stay in line. Better let’s rephrase that, idiots and the sheep menatlity population needs to be afraid to stay in line. Think how you teach an animal to behave… you punish it, since the animal doesn’t know better he will just obey, and eventually it will become part of its behaviour, it will just come natural to behave. If the animal could speak it would probably call RSPCA and the Police and get a lawyer and sue you. The other issue is Religion, and no I won’t go in a specific religion, just religion in general. Religion kept people in line because they are strict and they told people that if you don’t bevahe you SIN and if you sin you won’t go to heaven… therefore people will obey and act like a human being. I believe Religion and such harsh Laws are here to keep in line the weak minded and to make the whole society a better place.
Since Religion is now… well none xistant for these people and the punishment is also non existant there is nothing to keep them in line. People don’t care about their neightbour or another being be it animal or human. Have a look around you, I bet you that if you were to trip on the stairs in the Undeground you have a %80 chance that no one will grab you so you don’t fall, an if you do fall they will simply be annoyed that you fell and made them go around you or miss their train.
The truth is the world around us is more Ruthless than before and the laws are not. Imagine if the UK was bombed by an Atomic bomb… do you really think we could rise up as a nation from 0 again? Not only that but do it in 2 4 centuries??? I doubt it people would just kill each other instead of working with each other for the greater good. Only reason I am saying this is because other countries have done it, and others did jack ****. For example Japan… not much else to say about it since they started from 0 and are now more advanced than anyone else, and let’s take Romania, in 1990 they became a democratic country and almost 20 years later they are still worse than before, they don’t even have 1 single proper motorway, look at Hungary, since they came into the EU they made an effort.
The menatlity of people is sickening, greed, non care for the fellow man… etc etc… Nanny State you say… **** it I welcome it, the people that behave will behave and live a peaceful life no matter what, the idiots will adapt and maybe their childern and their children’s children will become decent human beings.
The only problem is humans will never live in an Utopia… simple, we love to suffer and commit crimes. If you watched The Matrix, there is one thing there that stuck to my mind, when Morpheus is a captive and Agent Smith tells him that humans are a plague, that we move to an area empty it of all resources and move on, the only other organism that does that is a Virus… isn’t this the truth?? He also said that the first matrix was a utopia and everyone hated it… again, humans cannot live in perfect harmony. A few possible can, but since you will always need leaders… those leaders will eventually become corrupt. It is only the human nature to be an asshole… maybe the next evolutionary step might help us if we don’t destroy ourselfs by then.
To quote you on that one… I was in Ilford and was going on this road when I see the traffic slowing down. Why?? Well because an idiot decided to park right in the middle of the road with hazzards on next to another car because they were just too damn lazy to park across where there was an empty space, so all the cars had to go around her, yes a woman and it was a big 4 x 4 and she was asian, anyhow so as I do my right and left and then hard right again do get around her I see the car parked ahead was hit, brand new car and the whole door was smashed in… guess why?? Well it was simple, a big car had to do the exact same maneuvre I did but because it was big, it hit that car… you could clearly see how it happened since I almost done it, I was very very close to that car’s door as I turned right to straighten up.
So to answer your statement, she parked next to another parked car, blocked the left lane yet on right was a free space, people had to go around her and someone by doing so hit her neighbour’s car. Did she give a ****? Of course not… but her actions had 100% direct effect on the owner of the new car getting his door smashed in.
Every Action has a Reaction, yet simple minded people cannot comprehend that!!!
So can you have a perfect UTOPIA??? I don’t think we can… it would be great to be possible…
Same reason the Americans refer to them as RTCs (collisions) and why the powers that be are pushing for this to be accepted terminology over here.