The difficulty is enforcement.

[Big Dave]

Yes. The debate is whether or not a specific offence is created for texting behind the wheel and whether it should be an infringement offence so that it can be dealt with by way of an instant fine, rather than the court appearance required for a careless charge.

Here - I'll finish the debate.
It's an infringement unless someone is injured. And I don't mean hurt feelings from the text.
Next item?

[onearmedbandit]

Now there's a generalisation you can be proud of.

No, if I said 'every' cop that would be a generalisation. I was just referring to you.

[scumdog]

Thats right, Your talking about everyone you talk to during the course of your work.

I personally don't make excuses, But I get damned mad when legit crap gets dismissed. As for post #26, Thats a genuine experience, Not a lie, But you have already stated your biased position.

Unlike you??

Our opinions are slanted by our experiences - and I have had a LOT of 'they all lie' experiences, hence my stance.

[Headbanger]

Unlike you??

Our opinions are slanted by our experiences - and I have had a LOT of 'they all lie' experiences, hence my stance.

Me?, oh hell, yeah, I'm biased, I just don't get to wear a uniform and have my crap have a direct and at times drastic effect on peoples lives.

That aside, Keep up the good work,

Cops and prison guards get there views twisted to hell by their work....

[more_fasterer]

Yes. The debate is whether or not a specific offence is created for texting behind the wheel and whether it should be an infringement offence so that it can be dealt with by way of an instant fine, rather than the court appearance required for a careless charge.

Ah it makes sense now, by introducing an instant fine / infringement offence it will become a much more effective revenue stream

[warewolf]

Our opinions are slanted by our experiences - and I have had a LOT of 'they all lie' experiences, hence my stance.

Same thing occurs on the other side of the fence, my friend, same thing...

Cops and prison guards get there views twisted to hell by their work....

A mate's sister got out of the Ds because she could see that happening to herself; everyone was becoming a suspect. Very limited circle of friends with a common outlook on life.

Before she was a D she was issued a leather jacket because she was based in a colder region. When she moved to a warmer spot she was told to never bring the jacket to work, even in her locker it'll get nicked by a colleague.

[swbarnett]

Here - I'll finish the debate.
It's an infringement unless someone is injured. And I don't mean hurt feelings from the text.
Next item?

Surely if no-one gets injured (and no property damage) there's no harm done? Don't throw out the pudding before you've tasted it.

[Swoop]

Cops and prison guards get there views twisted to hell by their work....

You left out "politicians" from that list!

[spudchucka]

No, if I said 'every' cop that would be a generalisation. I was just referring to you.

Ok then, lets play "contradiction".

You used a stale stereotype to have a dig at me personally despite never even meeting me in person or having any intimate knowledge of who I am.

In other words, you generalised.

[onearmedbandit]

Ok then, lets play "contradiction".

You used a stale stereotype to have a dig at me personally despite never even meeting me in person or having any intimate knowledge of who I am.

In other words, you generalised.

I would call it an assumption, rather than a generalisation. And it was based from what I have seen posted here by you.

No malice intended, just an observation.

As far as it being a 'stale stereotype', surely when you deal with liars and criminals all day long you must soon start to feel everyone is lying, heck even Scumdog himself admitted it. Similar to the car industry, when I started years ago I was told to remember that 'buyers are liars'. And sure a lot of them are, whether they intend to or not, and some of them are plain straight up with you. But I've seen salespeople develop a distrust for every customer they deal with. It's not healthy.

[candor]

[QUOTE=Usarka;1389743]Does it make a difference if your a man or woman? Men find it hard to talk while watching the telly, yet women seem to have no problem nagging on about shit while cooking dinner.

[Edit:]

Well all these cellphone disasters do seem to feature just male drivers.
Maybe relevant is that males have about double the crash risk of females... at any given blood alcohol level. Brain seems to overload faster.

Inarguagable enforcement would need cops to snap polaroids. Bet the strike ratio is too low in Oz to warrant the effort. Unlike alcohol in breath you can hide a phone at checkpoints, unlike seatbelts (hard to quickly click while driving) you just throw the phone away.

"You were - I wasn't... here I have a search warrant for telecom to see if you were chin wagging (Judges will love that one)".

For the sake of 22 deaths in several years per Herald (3 a year, and prolly 30 + serious injuries yearly tho this may be an underestimate) is it worth dedicating a set proportion of Police hours (as with speed / restraints etc) to meeting hourly cellphone offence "productivity measures" (the phrase the Ministers much prefer to q---a!).

Or should it just be lumped in with other "visible offences" as it is now. The strike ratio would be low for hours expended offence fishing, and I'd imagine countries policing this are not making more than a few hundred dollars revenue off this yearly (token populist law) - not enough to even buy the donuts.

Could hardly be popular with Police either - "don't return to the station till you have 10 speed offences, 7 restraints and 5 cellphone users under ya beltb or we'll fall below benchmark for the region this month". I'd have to empathise with feeling specially stressed by the last requirement .

Besides which - a lot can be done with just education. It is the main prong of the UK's drink driving approach - no checkpoints there, just serious penalties for screw ups and far better statistics for both drink driving rates and the toll. Sadly the Resource Allocation Model prevents mass education about issues other than the "vital few" of speed, alcohol and restraints.

[Big Dave]

Actually - nobody much in Aus texts while driving as it's too big a bust.

[Coyote]

Conversation in a vehicle IS distracting. Which is why if I'm driving YOU DO NOT TALK. End of story. All my passengers know this, or are told it. I not not chatter while driving (Don't have radios or stereos going either).

How boring

I text on the bike all the time. It makes me look cool


By the way, how does one become a bikie cop? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And those BMW's seem like nice bikes to cruise around on all day.

[Coyote]

AND TXTING IS MORE WORSERER! After all, not only does one have to read but one has to also decypher txtspeak!!
And in the real world are often sent by slack-jawed illiterates to other slack-jawed illiterates about inconsequential clap-trap that garnishes their sorry shallow lives..

I'd be keen to keep texting on the roads (darwin theory and all) if I wasn't in the crosshairs

[Headbanger]

I saw someone texting while riding earlier today, I let out a chuckle.

A definite temporary citizen.