Using Mobile whilst driving
I note that yesterday the driver of the HGV that caused a crash whilst using his mobile, killing an entire family, got 10 years in jail. Well deserved.
However there is one aspect of that report that does concern me a little. He was reported to be scrolling down a music play list whilst listening to music on his radio in the cab. The music presumeably coming via his mobile device.
I have noticed that many new cars today don't have the normal radio/disc player that we grew up with, but instead now have a digital receiver/player instead, and also receive their signal from the owners mobile device.
So does that mean that that situation that killed the unfortunate family will become more common not less?
I do apologise if Ive got the wrong end of the stick about these new "radios" fitted in new cars but I am concerned!
My son has just taken delivery of a new Toyota, - and it hasn't got a conventional radio in it. It requires connecting via blue tooth to a phone! Its far too advanced for me!
TF
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I note that yesterday the driver of the HGV that caused a crash whilst using his mobile, killing an entire family, got 10 years in jail. Well deserved.
However there is one aspect of that report that does concern me a little. He was reported to be scrolling down a music play list whilst listening to music on his radio in the cab. The music presumeably coming via his mobile device.
I have noticed that many new cars today don't have the normal radio/disc player that we grew up with, but instead now have a digital receiver/player instead, and also receive their signal from the owners mobile device.
So does that mean that that situation that killed the unfortunate family will become more common not less?
I do apologise if Ive got the wrong end of the stick about these new "radios" fitted in new cars but I am concerned!
My son has just taken delivery of a new Toyota, - and it hasn't got a conventional radio in it. It requires connecting via blue tooth to a phone! Its far too advanced for me!
TF
We would have crossed it off our list as our phones are PAYG and to download would cost us a fortune. Anyway prefer to listen to Radio 2 most times when driving,
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TF, many new cars still have a normal radio and CD player fitted but they are accessed via the software and not in the conventional way.
The Bluetooth option is just another way of accessing stored music, as is a CD or tape, and often allows the radio part to be used as a hands free phone when linked to a smart phone but is not normally essential for radio use.
Like a lot of things these days, manufacturers assume everyone is able to understand and use computers etc. Personally I love the techie equipment but others say it is fitted because they can rather than because it is an improvement.
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Yes what a tragedy indeed - and to take his eyes off the road for 45 seconds....... (I counted yesterday and I was through the village in 45 seconds doing 30mph).
I am afraid people seem to like their own music these days - which may be part of the trouble - and yes I think there could easily be an increase in such ghastly accidents although I do think people have always taken their eyes off the road for some reason
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"although I do think people have always taken their eyes off the road for some reason or another."
Precisely why we don't wave to MHs, Pippah. There are already enough distractions without creating more.
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My car has Bluetooth connectivity which is good for receiving calls since the button to allow the call is on the steering wheel. However to make a call you have to scroll through all the contacts in your phone, that's something that is very distracting IMHO
and therefore which I'll never do.0 -
My car has Bluetooth connectivity which is good for receiving calls since the button to allow the call is on the steering wheel. However to make a call you have to scroll through all the contacts in your phone, that's something that is very distracting IMHO and therefore which I'll never do.
Mine is similar with the button on the steering wheel but it's voice activated. I only need push the button and say clearly "call home" (for example) and it does exactly that.
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My car has Bluetooth connectivity which is good for receiving calls since the button to allow the call is on the steering wheel. However to make a call you have to scroll through all the contacts in your phone, that's something that is very distracting IMHO
and therefore which I'll never do.Mine is similar with the button on the steering wheel but it's voice activated. I only need push the button and say clearly "call home" and it does exactly that.
Same in my car. I use it quite often.
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Both our cars have Bluetooth connectivity. Haven't a clue how it works! In one it's never been connected and in the other it was connected to my phone by the dealer when I went to collect it but turned off since then by me, as is my phone when driving. I'm
afraid no call is important enough to me not to be able to wait till the end of my journey ( but then I'm not working!)
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I cannot see the reason for using a mobile whist driving for which you only get 3 points on your licence going up to 6.
By the sentence this driver recieved for dangerous driving says it all and instead of reporting for using a mobile each person using whilst driving should be prosecuted for dangerous driving and dealt with accordingly. It would soon cut out the mass use
as it is now.0 -
I recall watching a 'Police, Camera, Action' years ago, with a clip from a patrol car following another car, that for no apparent reason, crashed into the back of a stationary car!
The young lady, a nurse on the way to work, was changing a tape in the cassette player!
....The technology may have changed, but the availability of distractions to draw you away from paying attention to the road have not!
I see, without fail, 2 or 3 drivers every day on phones and others eating, drinking, applying make-up, deep in 'expressive' conversation and have even been sat behind someone at a T-junction watching pornography (dont know what else they were doing).
We are all (including myself) often all too complacent about the risks we take when driving, because the roads are so staticstically safe for us and because due to the cuts in funding and actual police patrols, patrolling, how unlikely we are to get caught!
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Distractions can come in so many different ways. I was following a car only yesterday and noticed that the driver was having a conversation with their front seat passenger. Nothing wrong with that of course except that every time he spoke he turned his
head to look at his passenger as he spoke. Sometimes he was looking at the passenger for quite a few seconds before he again looked ahead. The potential for a real disaster was quite high. So its not just using mobile devises that can be a danger.However I do agree that using mobile phones whilst driving is a very serious danger and that we need to change the public acceptance of it. too many lives have been lost as a result.
TF
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Whilst in Italy it appeared to be the norm for drivers to be on the phone. Strangely the Swiss seemed to enjoy phoning at the wheel whilst the Germans seemed to be hands free. I think the worse culprits are professional truck drivers
Write your comments here...as a so called professional truck driver i would like tl know how you come to that conclusion i see all drivers on there phones car,van,truck,all are guilty
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I would like to see the police use the same gusto regarding phone use while driving, as they do with, say, drink driving. They have the technology to check if and when and how a phone was used, but fail miserably to use it. There will soon be a Christmas
drink/drive campaign on our TV screens followed by a police crackdown on the run up to Christmas. Why can't they do the same regarding phone/driving. I don't have any statistics, but would reckon that using a phone whilst driveng is as big a cause of accidents
as drink driving, my opinion of course.....
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Personally I believe that if you are caught using a mobile while driving , there should be a mandatory 6 month disqualification for a first offence, and if caught again 12 months and so on . Unfortunately I know this will never happen.
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I also think that the police should have the powers to seize the mobile device.... May make some think twice.....
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It may seem a little extreme but I would prefer the Middle Eastern Answer to this !! On the first offence cut off the hand holding the 'phone about 6" above the shoulder ! Doubt if anybody would risk it a second time!!
And before I get offended replies might I remind everybody that the bloke who just got a few years in prison killed four people.
Brian A B M
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I also think that the police should have the powers to seize the mobile device.... May make some think twice.....
I would just make it law that anyone found using their moble whilst driving gets their vehicle crushed. Try explainig to your boss why his articluated wagon has just been seized!
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Mine is Bluetooth and voice activated, press one button on the steering wheel and everything else is voice activated, including the radio, CD player and even the internet. Yep, my Volvo connects to the internet through my phone but only works when stationary.
As for distractions, screaming children are more of a distraction than a phone call.
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I also think that the police should have the powers to seize the mobile device.... May make some think twice.....
I would just make it law that anyone found using their moble whilst driving gets their vehicle crushed. Try explainig to your boss why his articluated wagon has just been seized!
just crush the driver
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I also think that the police should have the powers to seize the mobile device.... May make some think twice.....
I would just make it law that anyone found using their moble whilst driving gets their vehicle crushed. Try explainig to your boss why his articluated wagon has just been seized!
Write your comments here...problem is more often than not its the boss calling the driver
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My car has Bluetooth connectivity which is good for receiving calls since the button to allow the call is on the steering wheel. However to make a call you have to scroll through all the contacts in your phone, that's something that is very distracting IMHO and therefore which I'll never do.
Mine is similar with the button on the steering wheel but it's voice activated. I only need push the button and say clearly "call home" and it does exactly that.
Same in my car. I use it quite often.
...but not as easy to call all the other entries in ypur address book....they would all have to have tags..or distracting scrolling.....
even my very, very old company nokia could do this years ago but i didnt use it.....call home (and one press receiving) is more than enough....IMHO.
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I cannot see the reason for using a mobile whist driving for which you only get 3 points on your licence going up to 6.
By the sentence this driver recieved for dangerous driving says it all and instead of reporting for using a mobile each person using whilst driving should be prosecuted for dangerous driving and dealt with accordingly. It would soon cut out the mass use
as it is now.It was a terrible tragedy, caused by avoidable lack of concentration, the film from inside the cab was appalling. It's a solemn reminder to everyone. I see so many drivers doing the same, it only takes seconds to ruin people's lives.
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Seeing the video as a split screen image was truly horrifying - forward facing camera thankfully froze before impact and the cab cam showed what was going on. I hope the 10 years means that but suspect it will be half or even less with 'good behaviour'.
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My car has Bluetooth connectivity which is good for receiving calls since the button to allow the call is on the steering wheel. However to make a call you have to scroll through all the contacts in your phone, that's something that is very distracting IMHO
and therefore which I'll never do.Mine is similar with the button on the steering wheel but it's voice activated. I only need push the button and say clearly "call home" and it does exactly that.
Same in my car. I use it quite often.
...but not as easy to call all the other entries in ypur address book....they would all have to have tags..or distracting scrolling.....
even my very, very old company nokia could do this years ago but i didnt use it.....call home (and one press receiving) is more than enough....IMHO.
BB, I can tell it to call anyone on the contact list in my phone. The voice activation works for them all. I could even tell it to "Call BB" if I had your number
.The use of 'home' was an example as I clarified on edit.
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thanks, ill have to check on my iphone..
certainly, in the old days, if it wanted to be able to 'call Tinwheeler' i would have had to have added a voice tag to the Tw entry so ot knew what number to associate with each 'spoken' command.
as you say, voice recognition might be able to do this as long as the entry name matched the command....
so... 'call Tinny' might not work if youre entry was filed under Tinwheeler?....etc.....
ill have a play, although i generally only (rarely) receive calls whilst driving.
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Mine is a new car with the latest system and my phone is an iPhone. I'm not bragging but those factors could have a bearing on the way my system works.
You do need to remember the name you've stored somebody as per your example, BB, but it wouldn't surprise me if the system suggests alternatives.
The other day, as an experiment, I told it to 'text' and it replied that messaging is not yet available. That implies it's on the way one day.
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Personally, whether you hold the phone to your ear or hands-free the point is you are distracted from driving and talking and thinking of other things when you should be driving. All cars should now be fitted with a device - that no one can reach
in the engine - that as soon as you turn on the engine (whether petrol or electric) your mobile is blocked and cannot send or receive calls, you must turn off your engine to make them. If this happened, hundreds of live would be saved. There are various
videos on this link (may have to copy to address box), hopefully the correct one will show up, which is called the "Two Second Rule"https://www.facebook.com/DrivingSpain/videos/500413180146039/
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All the above re making or receiving calls in the car is by the way ...... the bloke gaoled was scrolling through music files ..... they just happened to be on his phone rather than on a mp3 player/etc. And what's the difference between a conversation via
a phone & a 2 way radio?0
