Reporting mobile use while driving

Any idea on how long it normally takes for a reply on bad driving?

Reported this on roadsafe
View: http://vimeo.com/29015611
. One of those videos where it is worse than it looks. Pretty certain he was on the phone too else I wouldn't have bothered to report, no reply from the police even though it's been over a week.

Have you ha the standard response?
They generally won't reply any dieter after that, i've asked them several times if they could keep us up to date on how this progress with each report but it goes unheard.

Don't suppose there is something like this for derbyshire ?

I don't drive often these days, but when I do I am increasingly horrified. A day on the motorway yesterday revealed:

Norbert Dentressangle artic repeatedly veering onto the hard shoulder - driver apparently texting

4x4 enters from slip road, crosses to fast lane through fast moving traffic and proceeds to tailgate vehicle in front, all while using a hand held phone.

Saab coupe doing 45/50 in slow lane - fair enough, but on overtaking discover driver is leaning comfily against side window while deep in an apparently fascinating phone call on his hand held.

It's an epidemic out there. It's as if people have had their imaginations surgically removed. OK, I don't cycle on the motorway, but I see little difference on ordinary roads. I feel this has got out of control and needs a major public safety campaign.

RP if I'm horrified by what I see on motorways [eg the Saab coupe driver lost in concentration] I've drawn alongside [if it's safe... I certainly wouldn't slow down for no apparent reason in the middle lane!!!]and blip my horn so they look up because even with a car alongside they've not been aware I'm there and immediately drop the phone thinking I'm the police. If it gives them a shock then they might [just might mind] appreciate what they were doing and be more alert and concentrate more.

Yeah, Archie, I thought of that, but both in car and on bike, I'm inclined to just get clear of the nutters, and concentrate on my own safety. A moments distraction can be fatal in any traffic situation. And I guess the thought behind my point was that this has got beyond individual protests and interventions, and needs a public campaign.

An advert like the Australian drink/driving Christmas campaign would be a shock to their system... but then again causing death while using a mobile phone attracts a minimum 2 year prison sentence but it still doesn't act as a deterrant, so make using a phone while driving an instant ban or even a car crushing offence and publicise the first ones caught,... that would soon sharpen their awareness...

Christ, I'd be filling out the form 24/7 if I reported all the motors with faulty tail lights, brake lights, head lights etc. I see in SE London on my daily commute. I must spot at least two dozen a day. Still, it's a good idea to shop these tw@ts that are on their mobiles/drinking coffee/driving erratically, although the logistics of taking their details down could be problematic to the commuter with the hammer down. What I tend to do is point out the error of their ways if I happen to pull up beside them at the traffic lights.

Interestingly, the French have just introduced a fine of €1500 and 3 points for driving whilst.... wait for it.... watching a film!

Surely there's some generic law that'd do the trick. Do people really need to be told that it's dangerous to drive whilst doing a jigsaw puzzle? (No need to answer that btw)

The fine for driving whilst on a mobile has also been raised to €1500 and 3 points.

You still need traffic police patrolling the streets to catch them, if there is no fear of being caught the punishment is irrelevant to many of drivers.

+1

It narks me when boy racers get carried away and tint their driver's window - it must be like driving with sunglasses on 24/7. What's more you can't tell whether they have seen you if they're waiting to pull out of a junction. If you report this, it is easily verifiable by the police.

I could use this form to report the police motorcyclists who think it's OK to ride in the cycle lane on the CS7. I have seen this a few times in the last 3 months, and it seems to be spreading the message to civvie motorbikers that it's a legitimate thing to do.

I've stopped exactly because of that. I had no idea where the driver was looking, whether they'd seen me or not so I took no chances and stopped and waited for them to pull out. Ok, so I was also deliberately making the point, hoping the driver would realise why I'd stopped (I'm the eternal optimist!) but it's the same argument from a different perspective.

+ impossible for them to see much on gloomy overcast days or at night.

People aren't psychic - they can't read your mind and will almost certainly have no idea that you're being anything other than polite. If you want a motorist to know something, then tell them concisely and politely. Better still, tell them via YouTube and a Roadsafe letter if it's serious enough, so avoiding talking to the driver yourself and thus a potential road raging incident.

I also never bother to guess whether a driver has looked or not - seeing their eyes means nothing to me and doesn't prove whether they will or will not pull out.

As I said, I'm the eternal optimist. I didn't really think the driver would realise why or, more to the point, care why I'd stopped!

Eye contact doesn't prove anything, true, but it's a start.

Well there I was wandering through my local town dressed in my non work clothes, when I see Mr Subaru man driving towards me. On his mobile would you believe! Well he stops, because of traffic right next to me. Well I had too didn't I. I got my "I can tell you what do" card out of my pocket and knocks on the window. "Could you put your phone down please Sir!" I said in a polite but authorititve tone. He in turn replies in a not so polite tone of Voice "Why don't you bugger off and mind your own business". Well I bet he wouldn't say that off someone was stealing his car! Off he drives and I wander into my local House of cut backs and being stabbed in the back by Theresa May (you may know this as a Police Station) and reported said incident. Suggesting a notice of intended prosecution. Anyway my local forces Central Ticket Office has said because an officer from another force has reported it, he has to do the NIP, put the file together interview him and then pass it on to them. Now if on interview he accepts that he was using his mobile I could just give him a ticket couldn't I? No, I can't give him a ticket from my force it has to be from the one where I work it has to be from the force it occured in. But I don't have one of those tickets, so I still have to take him to court which is going to cost a lot more than it would do just issuing a ticket.
Good Job I 'm only in the county next door really. If I was in the Met would I still have to do all the donkey work...
Points to note
1. No wonder Joe public has a problem reporting things.
2. We are wasting a lot of time and money that we shouldn't
3. Theresa May is a Bitch! (Nothing to do with this post btw)

Do people understand the law regarding mobile phones and driving?

An interesting one for me today; I was getting the bike out of the car in the station car park when I see a woman driving a Range Rover clearly using a mobile phone, she comes into the car park and parks alongside me and gets out still chatting on the phone. I ask her why she is using a mobile while driving, she just glares at me and continues with her conversation, so I ask again, to which she turns her back to me and walks away. A few minutes later she arrives back with "How dare you speak to me when I am on the phone" I reply with how dare you use a phone while driving, she retorts "You need to get your facts straight, it was my husband phoning me!" and then quickly stomped off. My impression was she thinks it is perfectly OK to take incoming calls!

I sat nearby her on the train, she yaked continuously for the entire 25 minutes into Newcastle, some people seem to addiction issues with their phones.

Cheers, Voab, you've just made me chuckle!

And her husband watches porn films claimed on expenses.................or was that the other one?