Texting while driving

[Easy 10]

Does this mean that you dont choose to change the radio station its just something that happens?

Come on, surely you understand there's a big difference between pressing one button once to change a radio station, and pressing a series of buttons a number of times to calculate and compile a text message. They are not one and the same.

 

[The Large One]

So by that statement, if your sending a text you cant stop doing it if you need to concentrate?

:thud:
Un-f***ing-believable. How about NOT sending a text while you're driving in the first place?

As ive already said, I can send a text whitout looking at the screen which means that im looking at the road!

And that's supposed to be impressive - a skill you've mastered and one you're happy to use?

Looking at the road is one thing. Concentrating is another. You cannot concentrate on the road and the text at the same time, no matter how much you think you can delude yourself into thinking you can.


I just cannot get my head around this mindset that makes the risk of death - and an innocent death at that - so much more likely on the back of someone else's selfishness and stupidity, and all because they can't wait to stop for an appropriate moment to communicate with someone just in case they miss something oh so important.

Has you not considered the notion of 'sorry, mate, I'm driving and need to concentrate in case I kill someone'? No?

 

[ali jenkins]

Come on, surely you understand there's a big difference between pressing one button once to change a radio station, and pressing a series of buttons a number of times to calculate and compile a text message. They are not one and the same.

I do understand that they are diffrent things, and im not saying that texting is without its dangers, but I still dont think its anymore dangerous that changing the radio or talking to someone else in the car or having a ciggy or eating and drinking.

I also dont think that the people who are using all the big hard words like wanker and TOOL drive completely within then law!

 

[The Large One]

I do understand that they are diffrent things, and im not saying that texting is without its dangers, but I still dont think its anymore dangerous that changing the radio or talking to someone else in the car or having a ciggy or eating and drinking.

I also dont think that the people who are using all the big hard words like wanker and TOOL drive completely within then law!

Please, whatever you do in life - stay off the road. Please.

I had you down as a decent, sensible fella. Really I did. But this...

 

[ali jenkins]

:thud:
Un-f***ing-believable. How about NOT sending a text while you're driving in the first place?

All I meant by that was you were implying that if you were having a conversation or chaging the radio you could stop if you needed to concentrate but if you were sending at text you were not able to stop until you had sent it.

And that's supposed to be impressive - a skill you've mastered and one you're happy to use?

Im not showing off, Im just saying that when I send a text whilst im driving my eyes are looking at the road, not at the screen.

Looking at the road is one thing. Concentrating is another. You cannot concentrate on the road and the text at the same time, no matter how much you think you can delude yourself into thinking you can.

Have you never held a conversation whilst driving or never looked at something that wasnt on the road?

I just cannot get my head around this mindset that makes the risk of death - and an innocent death at that - so much more likely on the back of someone else's selfishness and stupidity, and all because they can't wait to stop for an appropriate moment to communicate with someone just in case they miss something oh so important.



Has you not considered the notion of 'sorry, mate, I'm driving and need to concentrate in case I kill someone'? No?

Yes I have

 

[ali jenkins]

Please, whatever you do in life - stay off the road. Please.

I had you down as a decent, sensible fella. Really I did. But this...

Well everyone is diffrent, and Im sorry if you think less of me as a person.

If you decide not to do anything to distract you whilst you are driving then that is up to you and well done for being such a conciderate driver.

 

[Gazwag]

My god how would you have coped driving before mobile phones, people did you know, you havent answered my question, what message is so important you need to write it immediately and not once you have got out of the car

 

[Djmiles]

Whoever uses a mobile phone while driving needs their brain examined.

I'm a young driver, and would never ever consider using my phone whilst driving. It's not cool, it's not acceptable. I'm sure their chav mates can wait 10 minutes for a reply while you find the time to pull over.

 

[ali jenkins]

Think you should drop it Ali. Afterall, it is against the law and even I'm not agreeing with a lot of what you're saying.

If you feel confident that you're equally as safe when you're texting when driving fair do's but.... you seem to be doing it to prove a point to yourself and others.

I have never said its not illegal, what I am saying is that all these people who have been calling me rude names are giving the impression that im the scum of the earth for doing something naughty when im sure they have all done similar things themselves.

What about speeding, who has done that?

We have all seen the adverts but I bet the VAST majority of people who post on NSC and drive (not at the same time) have gone 5mph over the limit

 

[keaton]

Well everyone is diffrent, and Im sorry if you think less of me as a person.

If you decide not to do anything to distract you whilst you are driving then that is up to you and well done for being such a conciderate driver.

No. it's not up to him and you, it's the law you clown

 

[ali jenkins]

My god how would you have coped driving before mobile phones, people did you know, you havent answered my question, what message is so important you need to write it immediately and not once you have got out of the car

I would guess that the vast majority if not all the texts I send are not important.

 

[sully]

Ali, MrV,

Please go and read the posting from TSB on the first page of this thread.

It matters not what you think about your ability. You are WRONG! Usually, when we see reports from "experts", we say "No shit, Sherlock". In this case, it's the same. Why can't you see that? It's dangerous. Full stop.

 

[ali jenkins]

Whoever uses a mobile phone while driving needs their brain examined.

I'm a young driver, and would never ever consider using my phone whilst driving. It's not cool, it's not acceptable. I'm sure their chav mates can wait 10 minutes for a reply while you find the time to pull over.

Im not a chav and neither are my mates

No. it's not up to him and you, it's the law you clown

Its up to him if he chooses to break the law or not, just like its my choice

 

[sten_super]

We have all seen the adverts but I bet the VAST majority of people who post on NSC and drive (not at the same time) have gone 5mph over the limit

I wondered when this was going to come out. Because you're right, obviously, texting while driving is exactly the same as doing 75mph on the motorway.

You may not have liked me calling you a tool on the first page, but you've only reinforced my belief in your subsequent posts.

 

[Easy 10]

Its up to him if he chooses to break the law or not, just like its my choice

You're really not making a very good case for yourself on here.

I have a 13yo who does a paper round around Southwick on his bike. If he was run over by someone who it turned out was writing a text message at the time, I would not be responsible for my actions.

I think I would choose to break the law as well.

 

[bhaexpress]

Its up to him if he chooses to break the law or not, just like its my choice

Actually illegal behaviour affects everybody not just the selfish people who break the law.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7621644.stm

Have a look at that and then convince the rest of us why you know better than the experts.

 

[ali jenkins]

Ali it's not so much about bending the rules - everyone will admit to doing that once in a while - it's your attitude about it all. You're arguing in favour of something that at the end of the day is unethical - it's popular belief that you are selfishly gambling with the lives of others - whether this is true or not is subject to debate but I think it's conclusive that if everyone paid 100% attention to the road a lot more lives would be saved.

That said, some individuals can handle multitasking when driving better than others, but there's no test for this, it's safer to not risk it in the first place than wrongly judge your abilities and live to regret it.

If I were you, I'd drop it mate - I have!

Your right, I will drop it, but only because I have to go to work now.

Have a good day everyone and remember to look out for selfish wankers and tools driving whilst sending a text

xx

 

[Gazwag]

Actually illegal behaviour affects everybody not just the selfish people who break the law.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7621644.stm

Have a look at that and then convince the rest of us why you know better than the experts.

I think this may be a better link


A young bank worker who caused a fatal accident by sending a text message on her mobile phone while driving at 70mph on a rainy night was jailed yesterday for four years.

Rachel Begg, 19, who hoped to become an accountant, used her phone 9 times during a 15-minute journey before ploughing into the back of a car driven by a 64-year-old grandmother.

Maureen Waites, who was driving to Newcastle airport to pick up her sister, died from severe internal injuries after her Citroën spun and then hit a crash barrier on the A696 near the city.

Begg, who was driving to her home in nearby Ponteland after visiting a male friend, was taken to hospital with neck injuries and denied initially that she had been using the phone.

But Newcastle Crown Court was told that police checks showed that she had made and received calls during the journey, as well as reading and sending text messages.

Begg, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving, wept in the dock as the final moments before the accident last November were described in court.

Robert Woodcock, for the prosecution, said that as Begg drove north along the dual carriageway “at about 65-70mph, according to her, she was writing and sending text messages. Her eyes cannot have been on the road ahead, for if they had been she would have seen Mrs Waites.

“Her eyes must have been cast down and, having sent the last message, she realised she was horrifically close to Mrs Waites and probably panicked.”

The court heard that Begg had been driving for only 18 months and that her inexperience may have been a factor in her inability to avoid the collision. Her VW Polo hit the back of Mrs Waites’s car, which spun first one way and then the other as the two cars came together twice before the Citroën smashed into the crash barrier. Mrs Waites, a hairdresser, died instantly.

Judge Milford said that Mrs Waites, from Wingate, Co Durham, had been with her 74-year-old husband, George, for almost 50 years, was the heart of her family and had been denied a long and productive retirement.

He sentenced Begg to four years in a young offender institution, banned her from driving for five years and ordered her to take an extended retest.

“The cause of this accident was that you failed to see her, until it was too late, for the simple reason that you had been sending a text message to your male friend,” he said. “To send a text message is even more perilous at night in a darkened car.”

Begg, who kept her head bowed throughout the hearing, had been given glowing references by colleagues at the HSBC Bank in Gosforth, Newcastle. Her former school teachers wrote of her sporting ability, her enthusiasm and her politeness.

Robert Adams, in mitigation, said that Begg had suffered posttraumatic stress disorder and nightmares since the crash, for which she was greatly remorseful. “This was a terrible tragedy. Rachel Begg knows and recognises that it was entirely her fault,” he said.

Brake, the national road safety charity, codemned the four-year sentence as “deplorably low”. The maximum jail sentence for causing death by dangerous driving is 14 years.

Josh Townsend, Brake’s head of education, said: “Rachel Begg will probably be free in just two years. A woman has lost her life and a family has been devastated by her violent and sudden death, all for the sake of sending a text message. The justice system needs to get tough on drivers who take needless risks with terrible consequences.”

 

[Garage_Doors]

I despair, no point in me posting anything because all the arguments have been made.
how anyone can think that they can text and drive whilst maintaining 100%
concentration on the road is severely deluded and should not have the luxury of a driving license.

Claiming to be an "experienced" driver of 5 years was just classic gold

 

[Gully]

...this drives me mad, I was overtaken on the way to work this morning by a young woman who was texting as she was driving, as I was driving at the speed limit for the road she must have been travelling somewhat over it.

Immediately before leaving home I had been watching the Breakfast News, they featured a story about someone who had been fined for parking for four hours at a motorway service station, where the time limit is two hours. I understand fully that they have set a limit to stop people using service stations as carparks, but here was someone who realised that they were tired behind the wheel and took a nap, not just for her own safety but also that of other road users.

It just seems inappropriate that someone who has caused death by irresponsible, careless and reckless driving should only go to prison for four years, but also someone who has acted in full consideration of other road users (the complete opposite) should be fined for her actions.