Streetlife

As a cyclist it is very worrying to have motorists driving along side on their phones, obviously then not giving their full attention to who is around them. So many do it because they know the chance of being stopped and fined is virtually zero.

Surely the whole point is that we should all try to obey the law - all of them.  If we don't like the law, we should try to change it.  Are those who choose laws to break (driving while on a mobile, cycling on pavements, paying cash in hand to avoid VAT, etc) any better than those who break other laws, such as theft of mobile phones!  What sort of example is that to their children?

Perhaps we should start a list of "acceptable" laws to break and "unacceptable" laws to break.  What makes you an upstanding citizen and what makes a criminal?  (PS John, I assume you are a law abiding cyclist!)

I would like to add that I see cyclists with mobiles they are holding to their ear weaving along the road - are they completely stupid ? 

I really don't understand why SO many people still use their hand held mobiles while driving. In my experience it's drivers right across the board - men and women, of all ages, who are all taking dreadful risks. Their thoughtlessness and lack of concern annoys me intensely, but scares me a bit too.
I also find it quite alarming when I see cyclists on their phones too - I've even seen cyclists texting while riding along ! How can they possibly think that this is acceptable ?

Talking to a traffic officer,he said you would be amazed @ the number of people he pulls over for NO MOT
NO INSURANCE,& NO DRIVING LICENCE, & then has to explain why they can't can't get in their cars to drive away which they can't understand,he sometimes feels he is wasting his time.

Coming home on the bus tonight I saw a van driver (male) composing a text or even maybe playing a game on his phone.  Admittedly the traffic was moving quite slowly at that point but it did make me wonder whether he would carry on when it speeded up again.  It probably won't be long before we see drivers using their iPads to catch up on last night's TV while taking the kids to school.

Actually, what gets me is why do we always have to turn to the law to get people to behave responsibly?  I'm not a driver, but it seems commonsense to me that you shouldn't do anything but concentrate on the road ahead once you're behind the steering wheel.

The reason the law was introduced was precisely because of the number of accidents which were thought to be caused by the use of mobile phones, whilst driving.  Jenny: you are right.  We shouldn't need to have laws to make us behave sensibly and morally, but apparently we do.

Good topic. I was interested to read the comments by mungomuffit about the Tv programme. What amused me was the fact that she sees at 'a dozen people every day doing it' and therefore is suprised that from the programme came the fact that the cops only see 60,000 each year. What she has to consider is the difference between her experiences and those of the police. Her comment is made from the fact that she is out and about on the street.......... and the police are where.
(This is not a dig at the beat coppers but those who load the paperwork)

Ken - when I used to get the 239 bus to Victoria, I could have had the best success/clean up rate of any plod in Battersea.  From the mobile phone use - to children being in inappropriate seats - to folk not wearing seat belts - gents wet shaving (yep .. physog covered in shaving foam) - ladies putting mascara on, as well as folk reading newspapers, books, sat navs in their hand and maps, etc..  All while I was waiting for a bus.  If they were able to do one of those filters in Lombard Road they would up their statistics.  Yes - I do look out for this type of driving behaviour since driving along the M4 behind a woman curling her hair with tongs.  That day I broke the speed limit by a great deal to make sure I was not only in front of that lunatic but was miles away from the carnage she was definitely about to cause.

Jenny, it's because the law is there for the lowest common denominator. Most people don't need laws to tell them right from wrong, but sadly others do because they are unwilling to act responsibly.

I will never forget the day I was working in a library when an old chap lit up a cigarette in the middle of the reading room, from the comfort of an armchair (this was ages ago when it was not illegal to smoke in public areas). When told to put it out he insisted he shouldn't have to because there was no law to stop him. And now we have a law ... for people like him.

Good post Vivian B!

@Vivian - I do the same when waiting at a bus stop or on the bus.I often shout at people on their mobiles if they have an open window.
I don't think I have ever got to 10 successive vehicles who were obaying seat-belt and mobile laws........and before anyone pulls me up, I know some classes of driver are exceept from seat-belt law.