Drivers, Get Off The Phone
Although new legislation was introduced back in February 2007, increasing the penalties for driving while using mobile phones, there are still plenty of drivers who are ignoring the law.
Over the past 3 days I’ve conducted a totally biassed, ad-hoc survey, noting the number of drivers I see using their phones on my commute to and from work. On average I see between 3 and 5 people each day, nattering on their phones when they should be concentrating on the road and their driving. Of these around 75% are driving vans or commercial vehicles!
Employers need to be aware that if they require an employee to make or receive mobile calls while driving they will be prosecuted. It is now an offence to cause or permit the use of hand-held mobile phones when driving.
The reasons for these laws are simple. Nobody, no matter how brilliant they think they are at driving (and this includes that knobhead Jeremy Clarkson), is really capable of concentrating on both their driving and a telephone conversation. A split second lapse in concentration is all it takes for disaster to strike.
One of the reasons I personally hate any halfwit who drives while using their phone is that my nephew was badly injured, at the age of only 5, by a dickhead in a van who was on his phone. He’d just picked up his nice, shiny new van on contract hire from a local leasing firm and was calling his mates to show off. My nephew was knocked nearly 30 feet down the road and suffered serious head injuries. Luckily he eventually recovered but the dickhead driver tried to deny that he had been on the phone! He didn’t realise that his telephone records would show that he’d made a series of calls up to the point when he knocked my nephew into next week.
My personal approach would be to take any drivers caught for this offence along to visit their local mortuary and show them one or two children killed in road accidents. Maybe a few autopsy photos along with meeting the parents and relatives of youngsters who have been killed and badly injured by selfish, thoughtless drivers would curb their nattering inclinations. The sight of a mangled, dead little body on a cold mortuary slab should be enough to make anyone think twice about using their phones while at the wheel.
THINK Road Safety.
#1. March 15th, 2008, at 12:14 AM.
It’s not just mobile phones. I’ve seen drivers trying to change CDs, put on makeup, reading maps, etc whilst pretending to be concentrating on the road. I wouldn’t stop them performing these absolutely essential activities, just as long as they only kill themselves. They are thoughtless cretins who deserve to fly through their windscreens at 60 MPH.