Another Police Debate

[Guest vacinc]

i think ill stay out of this one, got the feeling i"m getting roped in ?

[Mitch]

banned is a bit harsh Micky, what about all the smokers who only have one hand one the wheel, (or none when taking them out).

easy way, either dont use the phone whilst in traffic, laws do state you must pull over and switch of engine whilst on the phone, or use the hands free kits which are available cheap.

 

bit like speeding really, we all know not to do it, but all do from time to time, we get caught, we pay the price.

 

Mitch

[Guest crwoodford]

her Hubby recently got a ticket for having a number plate 1 inch too small on his Moped

 

Bill, sadly I'm intrigued? Was the number plate made intentionally 1 inch too small? Was it broken?

 

I would have thought Number Plate makers would use standard 'legal' sized plates and legal sized letters/numbers? Can only imagine it had been tampered with? Or perhaps a homebrew?

 

Cheers

Col (Taunton)

[Guest alan rowe]

just after I got my Hood i was stopped by the police and told my rear number plate was too small and was given a £30 ticket, his passing remark as he was about to get back in his car was --- and if the front plate is small I'll technically have to give you another £30 fine (I stood in front of it as he drove off)

 

A

[Longboarder]

How can using a mobile phone while the car is stationary, in neutral, handbrake on and engine running be a danger rather than an 'offence in the letter of the law'. (Would she have been commiting an offence if she had switched the engine off.) {Do I commit an offence when I pull off the carriageway into a layby to use my phone but keep the engine running?} Is there an assumption of an offence that she will continue to use it if the traffic starts to move.

 

I was sitting it solid traffic on the M5 going to Donny two years back. Alongside where three police vans. Up ahead was carnage. We were there for two hours. Did all those who rang home to tell their families they were delayed or the lorry drivers who rang base to alert customers of the delay commit offences?

 

Why can I use a CB at 70 mph but not a phone?

 

If the law is flawed it will not be respected. People will use 'common sense' and this sort of situation will arise. Those rich enough will flout it, pay the fine if caught and kill someone 'accidentaly' now and again!

 

If the law simply said 'holding of a mobile phone by a driver when moving will result in confiscation of car and phone and they will be crushed', habits would change. (My preferred solution)

 

Nigel

[Guest gordon_macnab]

It's the same thing as speeding. You know what the law is but choose to take the chance you don't get caught

 

I think in this case it's probably justified as she wasn't paying attention enough to notice the police car behind

[Guest paul thompson]

As a business traveller, and one who gets constant phone calls, I would find it very difficult to do my job effectively without a phone. As such ALLWAYS have a handsfree kit when driving. I drove my wifes car around the block the other day without my handsfree because I was not intending to drive (you know go out with the wife in her car, she wants to pop into a shop can't find a parking place, "can yuo just drive it round the block while I go in and do this..." I got a call, and stopped to take my phone out to see if I could tell who it was and if I wanted to take the call or not, hand brake on engine running for a few seconds. I decided not to take the call and continue driving, was I breaking the law or not? I was holding a ringing phone in my hand at the side of the road, no yellow lines, not obstructing anything, engine running. I did not answer it and continued driving. If I had answered it, I probably would not have thought to turn the engine off as I was in neutral and handbrake on. I would be fuming if I had got a ticket as I think I had behaved responsibly. I do agree with the feeling that a £30 fine for using a handheld phone while driving is wrong, and it should be more like £100 and points. However, what about all the other one handed activities that are often ndertaking while driving, Eating a choclate bar, picking your nose, putting on a CD. surely they can all be considered in the same way? just imagine getting a £100 fine for picking your nose!!

[enforcer]

Well i think the old woman nice or not should be banned from driving and the young thug of a cop should be re trained at his own expense..

Hey Micky, did ya get those 'Application To Become A Magistrate' forms I sent you?

 

Paul raises a good argument about where to draw the line. What is the difference between holding a can of coke, or a ciggy compared to a mobile handset. The logic behind making one illegal and not the others is down to the fact that the telephone conversation is a distraction in itself, more than just the physical situation of having one hand not available to the vehicles controls.

 

Having said that you could be prosecuted ( and there have been some well-publicised cases ) where drivers have been prosecuted for drinking from a can or eating an apple. In these circumstances if there is corroborating evidence to show that the driving has been impaired the offence reported is 'not being in proper control of the vehicle' or in more serious cases Careless of Dangerous driving.

[Guest Stuart Ainslie]

Last 3 accidents that I have been involved in, all being rear-ended , were involving people using their phones whilst driving.

'Nuff said.....

 

Laws are made. You break them, you get busted - Bad luck. Choice is yours...

[Guest Dredd]

The offence is to 'drive' whilst operating a handheld mobile telephone. The interpretation of drive has been considered for many years and decided by court cases to mean that you have control of the steering and propulsion of the car. So waiting at traffic lights would constitute driving. A court ruled that an individual sitting in his car waiting for the tide to clear a causeway was still 'driving'.

 

R v McDonagh 1974 (at C177) which states:

 

'the essence of driving is the use of the driver's controls for the purpose of directing the movement of the car however the movement is produced'

 

Another court ruling has stated:

 

The vehicle does not have to be moving. A driver is still driving until he has completed the normal operations such as applying the handbrake, that occur at the end of a journey.

 

2 A vehicle may halt temporarily such as at traffic lights. Each case will have to be looked at using three questions:

a) What was the purpose of the stop ?

How long was the vehicle stopped ?

c) Did the driver get out of the vehicle ?

 

So, nothing is ever straighforward is it!

 

The law on mobile telephones only apply to telephone handsets. That is why you can use CB radios, police / ambulance and Fire can use thier radios etc .

 

Oh and the Police do not make the law!!

[Guest craig030774]

how come 60 + poeple use terms as mobile phones, text message, remote control but the radio is still a wireless

[Guest Battery Bill]

Vachink

 

i think ill stay out of this one

 

Good

 

, got the feeling i"m getting roped in ?

 

No your not, stay out if you wish but its your Anti Police comments that we do not want

 

 

Gordon

I think in this case it's probably justified as she wasn't paying attention enough to notice the police car behind

 

I like it

[Mitch]

Bill, you should have ignored him, your inviting him to join now!!!!!

[Guest Bazwaz]

just after I got my Hood i was stopped by the police and told my rear number plate was too small and was given a £30 ticket,

Was that the V8 and did you change it.

Barry.

[Guest Bazwaz]

Just out of curiosity if your passenger was holding the phone to your ear are you still using it or is that classed as hands free

Barry