Driving and Cell Phones - Page 2

Russ · 10-08-2009, 19:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

I take it you drive in silence then Russ?

I take it you stuck to tradition and only read what you wanted to read in my post? Might explain why you missed me saying I wasn't judging her.

If a driver does anything distracting during driving and that action contributes to a crash then pointless agendas aside, that driver has little to complain about.

Xaccers · 10-08-2009, 19:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

I take it you stuck to tradition and only read what you wanted to read in my post? Might explain why you missed me saying I wasn't judging her.

If a driver does anything distracting during driving and that action contributes to a crash then pointless agendas aside, that driver has little to complain about.

Ah yes, you're not judging her, but it's her fault that she was hit by someone else. You're also refering to her clarifying what happend as a pointless agenda. I see you don't change.
Your insurance company would love you in a rear end shunt "Yes, I was sat at traffic lights when the car behind failed to stop, but it's my fault, I scratched my nose at that exact moment distracting myself"

Russ · 10-08-2009, 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

Ah yes, you're not judging her, but it's her fault that she was hit by someone else.

You've never really got the hang of actually reading people's posts have you?

I said:

Quote:

I'm not going to judge you but if you're doing something distracting and you end up having a car accident then there's no-one to blame but yourself.

And to make it a little easier on you I explained my point a bit more with...

Quote:

If a driver does anything distracting during driving and that action contributes to a crash then pointless agendas aside, that driver has little to complain about.

..so in case you missed it again, and to help box you in I'll make it extremely clear:

If a driver is doing something distracting (talking on the phone, lighting up a cigarette, changing a CD etc etc) while on the road and doing that action causes them to lose concentration and they have a crash, they have little to complain about.

Clear enough now? I'm pretty much convinced you can't misquote me or twist me words with that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

You're also refering to her clarifying what happend as a pointless agenda. I see you don't change.

"you started it"
"no you started it"
"no! YOU started it"

lucy7 · 10-08-2009, 19:58

My husband has hands free fitted into his car.
I know for a fact that he does not concentrate properly when he's yabbering away to the thing at the top of his car.
If I am in the car, I make him stop if he wants to continue with the call, and I take over driving.

Turn the phone off I say when driving.

Stuart · 10-08-2009, 20:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucy7

Turn the phone off I say when driving.

Except, in this case, if the poster above is to be believed, being on the phone helped..

One thing a lot of people seem to forget (when blaming one particular thing for road accidents ) is that there are a lot of things that can distract a driver, and possibly cause accidents.

Xaccers made the point that talking to a driver can distract them. This is true. However, if they are in a position where merely talking to them is going to distract them from the road, maybe they should not be driving?

I have to admit I am not sure that there is a real point to banning mobile phones in cars (I would have thought using them would be covered nicely by the offence of "Driving without due care and attention"). Unless of course that point is (like some many of our government's policies) to make it look like the government is actually achieving something while actually doing nothing.

I think that (and I mean this in general, it is not aimed at anyone specifically) the problem is that people can sometimes forget that driving can be dangerous. All it takes is for someone to look at their phone, stereo or even one of the passengers for 1 second and an accident can happen.

**Damien** · 10-08-2009, 20:56

Incidentally I believe this issue is coming up in America. I believe in many states it's legal to driving while talking on a handset. Although I don't see hands free being different to talking to someone with you in the car..

budwieser · 10-08-2009, 21:01

I`ve worked in car bodyshops for over 25 years now and most of the vehicles brought in for repair or are total losses are down to **** poor driving, people driving too fast for the road, conditions, etc.

Mr_love_monkey · 10-08-2009, 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

Although I don't see hands free being different to talking to someone with you in the car..

I think there is a difference, since another person in the car should (hopefully) be aware of the road conditions - and would have enough common sense to stop talking when it looks like something is happening that will require more concentration from the driver (like parallel parking if you're me

) - such as a very congestion crossing etc - whereas a person on the other end of the phone has no idea

Xaccers · 10-08-2009, 21:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_love_monkey

I think there is a difference, since another person in the car should (hopefully) be aware of the road conditions - and would have enough common sense to stop talking when it looks like something is happening that will require more concentration from the driver (like parallel parking if you're me

) - such as a very congestion crossing etc - whereas a person on the other end of the phone has no idea

However the driver (one would hope) is aware of the road conditions and can ignore the phone conversation, just as they're able to ignore the conversation with a passenger who isn't aware of the road conditions

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

If a driver is doing something distracting (talking on the phone, lighting up a cigarette, changing a CD etc etc) while on the road and doing that action causes them to lose concentration and they have a crash, they have little to complain about.

Clear enough now? I'm pretty much convinced you can't misquote me or twist me words with that.

And as I said, Danielle was hit from behind by a lorry driver trying to move into the space behind her. She was in the legitimate place on the road, there was a car in front of her so she couldn't floor it and get out of the way. There was the barrier of the flyover beside her, so she couldn't swerve out of the way.
But because she was on the phone to her husband, you're saying it was her fault.
Yup, that's pretty clear.

lucy7 · 10-08-2009, 22:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanielleG

Good Morning Everyone, I am the lady who got into the car accident. I feel you should know the whole story before judging someone, for example I was in the right lane on an OVER PASS, I had a car infront of me and a car behind me. I saw that the tractor was trying to get into the right lane but couldn't go foward or slow down I also couldn't get into a shoulder because I was on an overpass. I had to wait and get hit, and thank god for my cell phone because my husband went straight to the hospital if he didn't hear me then he wouldn't have found out till later that I was in an accident. Yes, phones are not the best thing but it was handsfree and I was obeying the law, it would have been worst if I was flipping channels on the radio and wasn't paying attention, so please before you judge me contact me.

---------- Post added at 18:22 ---------- Previous post was at 18:20 ----------

SM Herman please explain to me how I should "hang back" if I have a car behind me. Please I would love to know what you would have done seeing that you are infact Mr. Perfect.

Have we all missed this post?

**Damien** · 10-08-2009, 22:14

Nope. It's happened a few times where the subjects of a story have found a Cable Forum post about it.

Russ · 11-08-2009, 06:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

But because she was on the phone to her husband, you're saying it was her fault.

Ermm....where?

Quote:

If a driver does anything distracting during driving and that action contributes to a crash then pointless agendas aside, that driver has little to complain about

Note my use of the word 'if' at the start. Easy to miss when trying to put words in someone's mouth I know but even a seasoned veteran of that sort of thing gets it wrong ocassionally.

Xaccers · 11-08-2009, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

Ermm....where?

Note my use of the word 'if' at the start. Easy to miss when trying to put words in someone's mouth I know but even a seasoned veteran of that sort of thing gets it wrong ocassionally.

I see you're now trying to wriggle your way out of what you said Russ, just with the homophobic comments you made on the old forum, or the derogatory comments you made regarding the numbers killed in the holocaust.
To refresh your memory, you said (my emphasis to make it clearer) :

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

Using a mobile phone while driving takes your concentration off the road in any case. I'm not going to judge you but if you're doing something distracting and you end up having a car accident then there's no-one to blame but yourself.

Directed specifically at Danielle by you.

You state that you believe using a mobile (as Danielle was) while driving is distracting, and if she's distracted and has an accident (as she did) she's got no-one to blame but herself.

Russ · 11-08-2009, 23:04

It's very easy, you've allowed your tainted view of me to read all kinds of things in to my post and not just in this thread either. I'll just point out that no-one else ever seem to agree with you. I'd say that speaks volumes.

Xaccers · 12-08-2009, 00:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ B

It's very easy, you've allowed your tainted view of me to read all kinds of things in to my post and not just in this thread either. I'll just point out that no-one else ever seem to agree with you. I'd say that speaks volumes.

No one's putting words in your mouth, they're the words you posted, one would hope without thinking.

In post #14, you state that you believe using a mobile (as Danielle was) while driving is distracting, and if she's distracted and has an accident (as she did) she's got no-one to blame but herself.

Are you now really trying to deny that's what you posted?

I believe your statement is invalid, there are plenty of situations where a driver can be distracted and involved in an accident and it blatantly is not their fault.
One prime example is Danielle's case.