So it's now illegal in NSW to even touch your mobile whilst in your car.
I am struggling with this.
What am I suppose to when waiting at traffic lights ?
I can only scratch my balls for so long.
Any ideas ?
pick your nose, or from what a little hottie told us a while back (and i believe her because it happens) get an erection for no reason.... think its the car vibrations but i bar up nearly everytime i drive.
But a friend returned recently - alive - said 'yep, still the same." Was between Perth and Rockingham.
Pretty soon you will be able to use the phone AND have a beer...
www.psfk.com/2012/05/volvo-driverless-cars-on-public-roads.html
Gettin back to the topic of the thread, I'm of the opinion that you should lose your license for as much as laying a finger on your phone when behind the wheel. $250 fine and three points for screwin with your phone when behind the wheel here in WA.
More than likely a license suspension if caught driving in excess of 0.05 alcohol. As a keen cyclist, I'd rather take my chances with someone coming up from behind with a six pack of beer in their belly, than someone reading, or writing a text message. I see people looking down at their phones almost every day while driving. The penalties are clearly, woefully inadequate.
I would imagine it would pretty hard to look at yourself in the mirror every day if you took out a dearly loved son , daughter _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ while muckin about with your phone, not to mention the poor c you despatched or handed a life in a wheelchair sentence to. Imagine needing a gastric massage every day, all because some self centred f wit had to write or read that text message. It's just not on , J
James, I totally agree with your post.
I am tempted to put my mobile in the glovebox whilst driving.
It can be that split second when you look at your phone after it beeps from text,email,etc that could be fatal.
Pitbull, handsfree means farkall as it's the distraction of 'being on the phone' NOT holding it one handed that is the key problem. i.e. focusing on 2 things at once.
Although one handed is dangerous.
Society is so reliant on mobiles now that we simply feel we can't live without them.
When I was on a family holiday in Fiji last year I left my mobile with my offsider at work. The feeling of walking around the resort for 2 weeks with a phone and being totally uncontactable was just freedom.
Was'nt having a go at ya Scotty, I did get the feeling you were only joking around with your initial post. Just wanted to put forward the serious angle. I watched an episode of 60 minutes a few weeks ago, not the first one I've watched either, highlighting the danger and consequence of using your phone to text while driving.
What really got to me was the follow up week in Peter Harvey's Mail bag, some clown wrote in to say that he " is a busy man" and would continue to use his phone while driving. It's that kind of person who really needs to be taught a lesson. Losing the privilege to drive may just get the message through to someone like that before he wrecks his own, and the lives of others. The 250 dollar fine won't work for someone like that. J
I like the handsfree. Chuck my phone on bluetooth, it connects to the car when I hop in, and when it rings, it's just a button on the stereo. Just like changing radio station.
And yes, it takes a split second to press the button. But so does checking the speed (which has to be done often to make sure we're not 'hoons'), winding down a window, turning on the A/C etc.
I don't find talking on the phone (handsfree) any more distracting than talking to a passenger.
What I don't get is the screen taxi drivers have, reading that all day really would be very distracting...
In a perfect world driving would be 100% safe, but no amount of rules/laws about what you can and can't touch is going to do that. People still make mistakes and will (in general) drive around with their heads half way up their arses.
I'm with you Dawn Patrol. Not disputing the dangers of not concentrating when driving, but I find using a phone no more distracting than selecting/adjusting music, A/C, car GPS, talking to a passenger, or eating food picked up in drive thru for that matter. Isn't the very nature of drive thru service encouraging people to do other things while driving? What about parents who constantly have to referee fights between kids in the back seat while driving? Should we put kids in separate sound proof capsules??
At the end of the day, there's a thousand distractions while driving. It's up to each individual to manage them to ensure they can drive safely. I'm not sure why phones have to be singled out.
