Texting while driving

Please share. Not Funny

 

ta

 

Very shocking.

 

Watched this earlier. Apparently it has become a worldwide hit. Very shocking. Let's hope it does prevent accidents.

cheers

 

Thanks for sharing that.

I'm of an age where in my teens if we wanted to contact someone we sent a letter or went to the phone box on the corner of the street, presuming of course the other person had a phone which was rare. So I can never understand why so many people feel the need to text or be on the phone in the street, what's so important that can't wait 'til you get home or to a land line phone?

I've never sent a text in my life though I have had a mobile phone for years, it lives in the front ashtray of my car, it's there for emergencies and "justgetmes" when I phone home before leaving the golf club carpark. My wife has an "emergancy" mobile, she keeps it in her handbag and never uses it. Like me she couldn't tell you the number.

My first mobile was provided by my company, I immediately put it my desk drawer and never turned it on. Having it on would have been like "wearing a tag."


In my experience one of the dangers I've observed is young women with long hair engrossed in a mobile phone conversation in the street, the phone in their right hand, suddenly stepping out in front of you from the left. Their hand, wrist or hair often obscures their vision to their right, I've had some near misses that way.

The other danger is "Satnavs", in cars like mine with a fair distance between the driver and the windscreen it can need a bit of effort turning to see the satnav screen. If I'm using mine, I turn the screen towards my wife or the empty passenger seat and rely on the voice directions.
"There's enough idiots on the road" without becoming another one of them.

Err..

Don't get me going about drivers who don't know the law about turning right at a box junction.

 

It couldn't really be any more hard hitting. The trouble is for it to have any effect on a person, that person has to be the sort that cares. The sort that cares about anyone or anything wouldn't be so stupid as to try to send a text while driving in the first place. That just leaves the idiots that think they're infallible and superior to everyone else. The kind that thinks its ok for them because they're a better driver than everyone else. The kind that would probably laugh at videos like this one, and the kind that kills innocent people on the roads.

 

On the flip side, it tells me, I 've got to be on the look out for drivers who are texting, ---they could hit me.
More defensive driving. Might as well stay home.

 

Redstar, you are right, you and every other driver has to remain alert for these inconsiderate drivers who imagine that they have the right to do as they please. Unfortunately, most youngsters today, those who do this sort of thing will simply say, that won't happen to me, I'm in control.... Nonsense!

 

And us cyclists have to be aware of everybody.
The youngsters are weaned on this technology every school kid has a mobile they walk past ours everyday most of them with heads bowed texting oblivious to what is going on around them,it's part of their lifestyles you will not take it away from them,it doesn't matter were they are they will have a mobile and be texting.

 

Defensive driving is always important. I know a few people who've had accidents when someone else has strayed onto the wrong side of the road. In fact just at the weekend I had to slam the anchors on when a biker decided it would be a great idea to overtake someone on a blind bend and suddenly came face to face with a two tonne tank that is my Volvo estate. The wife, who was sat in the back with our little son, asked "would we have been ok if you hadn't got the brakes on quick enough", to which I replied quite honestly "you and James, probably, but for me it would depend what happened after impact, if he'd have gone over the roof I might have got away with a bit of bruising, if he'd came through the window screen I'd have almost certainly been crushed to death".

 

I've a really old book somewhere by Paddy Hopkirk, where I learned all my "defensive driving" techniques.

One of mine (that usually can start a lively discussion on a message board), is to drive at 79mph in the outside lane on motorways. I never tailgate anyone and will always move over when it's safe to let someone pass me. (I can't be doing with all this weaving about some drivers do driving in the middle lane, where you also have to watch what other drivers are doing on both sides as well as in front or behind)
In this way I stay out of trouble and there's no chance of a Polish lorry driver pulling out of the inside lane and side-swiping me because he hasn't seen me. An indicated speed of 79 is a "true" speed of about 71 or 72, the Police would never stop you for that.

 

My lane discipline used to be a bit lax, but I stay left now when possible (although I don't do the weaving in and out either, as statistically you are more likely to have an accident during a course change than just following a lane). One day I was cruising along. in the middle lane on this occassion, when suddenly without any warning at all, my engine cut out and I had no power at all. I was so glad the left hand lane was quite, as I'd hate to have to make my way to the hard shoulder under momentum alone, while the lane(s) to my left were busy, and I'd hate even more to find myself stationary in the middle of the motorway.

On the defensive driving thing, I have a few mantras that I was taught as a learner and have kept ever since:

"Only a fool breaks the two second rule" - Basically this means there should be a minimum of two seconds worth of distance between you and the vehicle in front, so you get a minimum of two seconds to react to anything he does.

"Less space less speed" - In narrow streets, or roads with lots of cars parked etc, even if the road ahead seems clear, we slow down. It allows for people doing unexpected things like opening car doors or suddenly pulling out without warning etc.

"Always drive at a speed that allows you to stop in the distance you can see to be clear" - Ok, not a very catchy one that one. Its about not making assumptions about what's ahead, don't assume anything, wait til you see it. For example on blind bends on country roads. A lot of drivers seem to assume that as they round the bend, they might see another car going the same way at roughly the same speed, or their might be nothing there. They never seem to factor in that their might be a tractor their, or a broken down car, or a horse rider or cyclist.

"Breaking for two" - This is one of my favourites when I get a tailgater. It basically involves factoring in the weight and moment of the car behind in case you have to brake hard. Your brakes are designed to stop the moment of your own car, if you add the moment of another car to that then your brakes have to work twice as hard in an emergency if the driver behind can't react in time. You counter this by slowing down even if there isn't an emergency, so that you can still stop in time if anything does kick off in front. The closer a car pulls up to my back bumper, the less time he'll have to react if I brake, so the more I slow down. This annoys the hell out of them, and sometimes they punish me with their main beam. If that happens I apply the previous rule. As I can now see less due to the glare, I must slow down more. They usually get the message eventually.

 

My Dad taught me how to drive-his golden rule was ...............anticipation. Anticipate that everyone else driving around me might be high, drunk or stupid. I-as all young people do didn't think it was possible that everyone was in a state. However there are more of them than people think to date I have had three car accidents-two were drunk, the other one was the typical 30 something male who thinks he can plough through whatever crossroads he comes across completely impervious to damage-------------in other words a sales rep in a company cavalier.



""Breaking for two" - This is one of my favourites when I get a tailgater. It basically involves factoring in the weight and moment of the car behind in case you have to brake hard. Your brakes are designed to stop the moment of your own car, if you add the moment of another car to that then your brakes have to work twice as hard in an emergency if the driver behind can't react in time. You counter this by slowing down even if there isn't an emergency, so that you can still stop in time if anything does kick off in front. The closer a car pulls up to my back bumper, the less time he'll have to react if I brake, so the more I slow down. This annoys the hell out of them, and sometimes they punish me with their main beam. If that happens I apply the previous rule. As I can now see less due to the glare, I must slow down more. They usually get the message eventually. "


My DH s favourite too.


As far as texting or phoning whilst driving, put your phone down-nothing you will ever do in the whole course of your lives will ever be THAT important.

 

I find it worrying that many drivers don't look far enough ahead when driving on motorways; I always concentrate on the cars 500yds ahead and pick up everything else through peripheral vision.
I do regularly look in my mirror and I'm never caught out by cars or ambulances coming up at a rate of knots behind me. If I see trouble ahead I immediately put on the hazzard lights but wait a few seconds before starting to slow down, if I didn't put on the hazzards, I'd be sure to be flashed by a driver behind who hadn't noticed the problem.
What amazes me that even when the traffic is light on a long journey, say on the M40 I often pass cars which a few miles down the road come up behind me again, I move over and let them through and a few miles down the road they're back in the centre lane and I pass them again.

All this speeding up and slowing down causes the "domino effect."

I've always where possible tried to drive at a constant speed. I use my cruise control where possible, but these are rare occasions these days and impossible on the M6 North because the traffic is usually too heavy. I'd be forever "clicking." I've always been able to regulate my speed by listening to the engine note, though difficult sometimes as I usually have a wannabe tour guide as a passenger.
The M6 North has the French style chevrons to aid drivers with no common sense to be able to keep a safe distance from the car in front, but many drivers ignore them.

 

The M6 North has the French style chevrons to aid drivers with no common sense to be able to keep a safe distance from the car in front, but many drivers ignore them.






Or worse-haven't a clue what they are!