A question for our resident coppers

[jahrasti]

Do you guys spend much time handing out tickets re cellphone usage whilst driving?Amazed at how many i see using them and after once again almost being hit by a stupid bitch using one and failing to give way when turning into my street thought i would ask if you guys spend much time pulling em over.Probably not if your out in a marked car but i would imagine you get a few in an umarked.

It depends really in the Time Place Circumstances really. For example a traffic fella will struggle to spot someone on the phone in the open road at open road speeds (plus isnt it all about speed ).

Front line popo in marked cars do it, problem is it depends on Time Place Circumstances once again. If said popo had an offender in the back travelling back to the Police station then it poses a problem trying to conduct a traffic stop with a possible angry, drunk, drugged, violent offender.

Then it depends on calls for service (I fucking hate that term). Front line in cities are often going from job to job and may not be free to conduct the traffic stop. Police are criticised for either taking to long or for activating red and blues for what some public believe are not priority jobs eg shoplifter, so they must drive at the speed limit, but wait there is more. If said shoplifter becomes violent Police are then criticised for not responding fast enough. Not whinging just saying how it is, I have way better things to whinge about

Then there are the unmarked cars, well the feds cant have their coffee going cold (sorry in house joke). To be fair they do write a few out because as you point out peeps don't recognise the vehicle.

Lastly is the traffic itself. hell peeps on here moan about u-turning cars (yes they were at fault, nuff said (hopefully)). Sometimes it is deemed unsafe or unable to safely stop the vehicle. The old dammed if you do dammed if you don't .

Obviously my perspective only.

[AllanB]

I downloaded a Android speed app onto my phone. Bloody cool looking thing and handy to check what the cars speedo is actually reading. HOWEVER it is so pretty and graphic with cool colours etc that it is also distracting .......... BUT I'm not making a cell phone call and it is hands free so I suspect perfectly legal - no different than playing music on it ..................

At least when I crash the app will have a good record of average speed, distance travelled etc

[jahrasti]

I downloaded a Android speed app onto my phone. Bloody cool looking thing and handy to check what the cars speedo is actually reading. HOWEVER it is so pretty and graphic with cool colours etc that it is also distracting .......... BUT I'm not making a cell phone call and it is hands free so I suspect perfectly legal - no different than playing music on it ..................

At least when I crash the app will have a good record of average speed, distance travelled etc

Umm it is actually illegal to operate a cell phone whilst driving. Believe it or not it includes any auxiliary applications that the phone may have.

Paraphrasing the shit I can't be bothered searching for says some shit like blah blah blah device that is primarily used for making calls. Or words to that effect. Memory like 'n elephant I áve.

Say you use your Iphone to play music in your vehicle, I'm not talking about hands free, I mean pick it up to change music then you are operating a cell phone.

Obviously if you turn your app on prior to driving and dont touch it, that is a different story.

Man phones have come a long way since my Nokia 3310.

[Scuba_Steve]

I downloaded a Android speed app onto my phone. Bloody cool looking thing and handy to check what the cars speedo is actually reading. HOWEVER it is so pretty and graphic with cool colours etc that it is also distracting .......... BUT I'm not making a cell phone call and it is hands free so I suspect perfectly legal - no different than playing music on it ..................

At least when I crash the app will have a good record of average speed, distance travelled etc

I've found the Ulysse to be the best free one, pretty cool to have it's saved me a couple times; I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone how often the Police gang members lie.

In a crash it's the max speed record ya gotta be careful of as next minute the gang members will be declaring that the speed at which the crash happened & issuing tickets for it

[AllanB]

Umm it is actually illegal to operate a cell phone whilst driving. Believe it or not it includes any auxiliary applications that the phone may have.
.

I'd have to drag out the exact txt but I'm positive it was fine being used as a GPS for maps etc - just phoning and txting they don't like.

There are a lot of things one can do in the car that are distracting - most new models have inbuild touch screens for audio etc etc - just as distracting.