What complete tosh! if you can't drive and talk at the same time then you have a serious problem, or maybe I am just a unique one of a kind individual because I have no problems concentrating on driving and talking at the same time on my hands free car phone, and I have never crashed, nearly crashed, hit anything, missed a junction or jumped a red light.

So you're not in complete agreement then? :)
Edited to say, d'you really think people in general drive acceptably even when they're not being distracted....if you're not concentrating on your driving because your thinking of something else, it's hardly complete tosh. ( from someone who has had a handsfree user run into the back of them, and tell the third party they'll have to call back, 'cos they've just had an accident, ffs! ). It's not rocket science is it...you think about one thing, you're not really concentrating on the other. Just because you reckon that's not you, doesn't make me wrong! :)

Can I scratch my bollocks while driving or should I be arrested for that?

FFS, smoking a fag is hardly as mentally taxing as holding a telephone conversation. And MOST car passengers manage to modulate the conversation based on road hazards, something only psychic's can do on the end of a phone and that makes a huge difference, IMHO.

As for eating, well as long as you're not using 2 hands to eat you Big Mac, it should be allowed as should drinking through a straw, but not tipping your head back to get the last few drops out of your can of Coke ;)

Glad to see you still have your sense of humour :D

And no you are probably not wrong but there are drivers and there are screwdrivers!! it just bugs me that there is far to much generalising on here that all drivers are not concentrating on driving when they are talking on the phone or to a passanger or even singing to the radio is just not true! I grant you that a lot maybe more than most who are not multitasking but to generalise and lump all drivers into the incompetent bin is unfair.

Yeah, you can scratch your bollocks while driving....if you can cope with the distraction, much better to let your other half do it for you though...that way you keep both hands on the wheel! :D

Yeah Wurzel, just about still got a sense of humour...normally keep it more well hidden than this! :D
Drive nearly a thousand miles a week to get to work and back, consequently see a lot of nonesense on the roads, hence the somewhat jaded approach! :( :)

It doesn't mater anyway cos nobody gives a toss

When the law?? came into force i saw a huge difference in the amount of people using phones while driving now it is as bad as ever ......



BECAUSE THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH POLICE ON THE ROADS

Cleaning out the engine bay the other day I found a reasonably fresh-looking fag-end lodged in there. Just as well i dont have any fuel leaks.


not only is flicking fag-ends out the window very environmentally unsound, its a big danger.

Eating, drinking or smoking whilst driving, are all covered by "careless driving" or "not in full control of the vehicle". Previously, using the phone whilst driving would have been classified as the same offence, however, it now has its own specific offence, whereas the others don't.

Basically, anyone could competently be charged with the above offences for eating, drinking or smoking at the wheel, but it is very much dependent upon the circumstances.

For example, if a person has both hands on the wheel, only removing one hand for an occassional drag on a cigarette, it would be pretty hard to prove careless driving....

On the other hand, I saw a chav bint just yesterday with a fag in one hand whilst clinging onto the wheel and her head tipped fully back as she took a long swig of her bottle of Fanta! :eek: She was all over the road, and excellent example of the above offences! :D

Regards cigarette lighters being options.... a lot of manufacturers now give you a "12v" blanking cover instead of a lighter unless you specify.

Cars will always have cigarette lighter sockets, ashtrays, cup holders etc etc, as they can be used by anyone and not necessarily the driver.

The reason that use of a mobile phones is an offence is primarily due to the fact that your hand is occupied by its use for a prolonged time (as opposed to taking a drag on a fag). It is nothing to do with the conversation distracting you from the task of driving or else handsfree kits would be illegal also, yet they are not, although I appreciate that they do distract the driver somewhat.

Just today I was out with the missus when her mother called her mobile so she began to chat away, handsfree, as we approached slowing traffic. The traffic in front of us had all but stopped and my good lady was so distracted by the conversation that her right foot was still accelerating!!!
This was only halted by my dulcet tones..... "FOR FCUK SAKE STOOOOOOP!!!" at which point the realisation that the front of her car was about to be re-modelled caused her to practice her emergency stop, causing us to skid ever so slightly on the wet surface.

A "small" argument over her driving ensued! :D

Ban ALL mobile phones, whether they be handsfree or not, thats my motto!

Technically you could be done for 'bieng under the influence of drugs' but the line has to be drawn somewhere i suppose...

Qiute right Pugoetru, in the bad old days when I used to smoke I used to avoid talking to my cigarette. :)

Your point is a good one anyway, I used to have a Ham radio in my car and it is true that talking on that, and using a mobile phone is just the same, does cause loss of concentration while driving.

Les

Some good points emerging from this thread and I can see peoples points regarding telephones talking A LOT of you concentration, if it's the concentration thing thats most dangerous then arguably handsfree kits are just as bad..... hmmmmm

Exactly my point hawkeye, which proves that the main problem with the use of handheld mobile phones is the fact that your hand is "tied up" for prolonged periods of time.

The fact that the conversation is distracting you is obviously less of an issue or else all types of mobile communication would be banned also.

Personally, I feel that the losing concentration aspect is much more dangerous than the fact that one of your hands is tied up in the use of a phone.

HA HA, what a laugh, obviously a none smoker :D:D

PS I used to talk all the time on my mobile on the 30k motorway miles I used to do years back.

I've lost count of the number of times that I couldnt remember turning off at a junction, but when chatting with mates I just never really concentrated, jut followed the road.

Having smoked whilst driving for 10+ years I can safely say I've never had an issue with it.

If we are on the banning thing, then we need to ban bees - one of these once flew in my car window and up my t-shirt arm - bloody hurt and we nearly crashed :D