Texting and driving

[Shaun Harris]

We used it (*555) last weekend, following a car drifting over the center line, and at times double yellows, the worst was almost half the car over on a left hand bend. I let the waiting cop in just before we got into Masterton and he pulled the driver over.

I too have used it for similar reasons only, as that to me is extremelly dangerous. I am not a police man, but this person was a potentuall family killer

[Shaun Harris]

The campaign (coming up) to catch folks driving distracted is only just ahead of vigilante type action I'm guessing. After all if kiwi folk get upset by tourist driving habits, the multimedia obsession of a portion of our local drivers makes their driving far worse...

The media side of it is only about sales, they do not give a flying F in reallity, just sensationalism that makes them $

[R650R]

The media side of it is only about sales, they do not give a flying F in reallity, just sensationalism that makes them $

I love the hypocracy of them posting crash photos and other images sent in by viewers clearly in the driving seat of moving car taken with phone camera.

The reality is we have ALL texted and called on our phones while driving at some stage as its taken ages for it to become illegal. During that time (of cellular freedom) the road toll has plummeted dramatically so theres not even any concrete cause and effect data. The simple fact is fools and the easily distracted are crashing like they always have done, just sometimes they have a phone in their hand so that gets the blame.
Just like drunk driving crashes (drunk driving is bad and you shouldn't do it), surely a portion of those crashes would have probably happened even if they were sober such is the crap driving of some.
The law should be that you can receive and make a call on phone at any time if you feel you are in full control of your vehicle but texting not allowed on touch screen phones as that's impossible without looking.
Now before the super self righteous flame me, I don't use my phone while driving, not because its alledgedly dangerous but because I value a clean license so I will play their game to keep zero demerits.
Before the law change like ALL other drivers I used my phone when needed, I NEVER had a near miss because of it. I DID have near misses while looking at a bit of skirt, being angry judging others bad driving or just plain fatigue....

[Virago]

Some reckon they're so good at txting, they don't need to look at the phone when txt-driving.

Whereas I am such a good driver I don't need to look at the road when txt-driving.

[swarfie]

Not quite sure why the TA would want to announce that they are going to clamp down on Txt-ing/phone use while driving...JUST BLOODY IT !! They'd catch far more of the idiots if it was unannounced.

[Tazz]

Some reckon they're so good at txting, they don't need to look at the phone when txt-driving.

I could do that piece of piss a few years ago with a 'button' phone. No chance with touch screen. Gettin old!

I still pull the phone out when stopped in traffic unless I'm at the front of the queue. Will probably get pinged for that one day. No worse than eating behind the wheel mind.

The 'hands free' stuff that is coming factory in cars these days will see an end to a lot of that. Calls are getting cheaper too. Easier to to just use a couple of buttons on the steering wheel and give someone a bell than text.

[Tazz]

Not quite sure why the TA would want to announce that they are going to clamp down on Txt-ing/phone use while driving...JUST BLOODY IT !! They'd catch far more of the idiots if it was unannounced.

It's all about being seen to be doing and making noise about 'something'.

Policing = Poltics.

[scumdog]

I could do that piece of piss a few years ago with a 'button' phone. No chance with touch screen. Gettin old!

All very well texting using a 'button' phone - but at some stage you have to read the incoming texts.

And you can't do THAT by running your fingers over the buttons!

[caspernz]

Not quite sure why the TA would want to announce that they are going to clamp down on Txt-ing/phone use while driving...JUST BLOODY IT !! They'd catch far more of the idiots if it was unannounced.

If it creates a bit of a social stigma akin to drink driving, no harm in publicity prior to the event.

Heck, the place where I work we've got it as a policy not to have the phone on whilst we're trucking along. Yet some dispatchers still get annoyed when I only check messages whilst stationary or at a drop point. Just a shame some of our drivers feel compelled to break the firms' own rules, as well as law of the land...

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but my phone goes off or on silent when I hop behind the wheel. Oh hang on, it's called being anti-social innit?

[Shaun Harris]

It's all about being seen to be doing and making noise about 'something'.

Policing = Poltics.

Agreed, as well as trying to actually get less people doing it, in fare of the penalties. There is a time and place for every thing, open road with no congestion is fine as I am concerned, ( Not intown and on motorways) but I have been driving illegaly and legally for 43 years now. I use to drive a 6 cyl PB vox and a commer milk truck when I was 8 years old, haha I had a cool father who was a petrol head big time. The man passed away when I was 9, and life seriously turned to shit in our family, a member was raped in front of me by 3 men, and that was the start of the piece of SCUM I have recently been called via a pm on here, by some one who does not even know me, but know;s people I went to school with at St Pats town in wellington years back, whilst I was living in social welfare after being taken way from my remaining family, and living in a house where the people smoked POT every day of the week. Struth, out of the pan and into the fire. I reckon they were using me as a way of making them look like good people in the community, as well as they were being paid to have me there.

Sorry for the rant, just needed to get that out of my system, in hope the person who sent the nasty PM reads this, and maybe, just maybe, he is preaped to think before he sends nasty viscious stuff to people in the future, I did not bother to try and explain this to him, as at the time, it fealt like I would just be crying about my miss spent poor hard done by youth. I was extre,elly well taken care of my my family/Mother, I just went wild, and she could not controll me.

[Virago]

[willytheekid]

Sadly...most "Txters" don't see the problem

[Tazz]

All very well texting using a 'button' phone - but at some stage you have to read the incoming texts.

And you can't do THAT by running your fingers over the buttons!

No braille function on your phone either huh? Maybe one day
I would usually do that when stopped at the lights, and very occasionally when on the open road hold it at the top of the steering wheel and quickly flick through it while on a straight. Big no no these days, sweet as back then.

People can lecture all they want but everyone is different and I had a harder time (less focused on the road) doing something that is still completely legal, which is eating while driving, than I did texting with those older phones.
Others might, but I personally couldn't do it on the move without being quite distracted with the one (touch screen) I have now.

This is all in a car. On the bike texts and calls just get read out into my headphones and I pull over and sort them out if I want to. Much bettera system, although those that can't have anything other than wind noise cry foul.

[Virago]

No braille function on your phone either huh? Maybe one day
I would usually do that when stopped at the lights, and very occasionally when on the open road hold it at the top of the steering wheel and quickly flick through it while on a straight. Big no no these days, sweet as back then...

An interesting point. People used to hold their phones up in the driving line of vision. Now the hard-core txters hold their phones surreptitiously in their laps, to avoid being sprung.

[caspernz]

An interesting point. People used to hold their phones up in the driving line of vision. Now the hard-core txters hold their phones surreptitiously in their laps, to avoid being sprung.

Saw something the other day about State Troopers in some US states using 18 wheelers to nab the lap texters...

Hell, just fit a couple of correctly aimed cameras to a few of our trucks and you'd net loads of D'Orklanders who think they possess superhuman skills...