Don't Text and Drive

[Trainshed Terry]

I am posting this as it is a very strong way of proving that texting and driving (or walking) is a very dangerous thing to do let alone using any hand held devices in any situation. 

 

If in doubt stop moving and if it is not important leave till later.  

 

https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1631586916872792/

 

Terry.

[Horsetan]

I am posting this as it is a very strong way of proving that texting and driving (or walking) is a very dangerous thing to do let alone using any hand held devices in any situation. ....

I think you can be sure that a very great many people will be going out and doing just that...... some of them after seeing the link.

[BoD]

I notice that it was produced in South Africa.

 

It seems that there and in particular in Australia, their governments aren't afraid to use hard hitting images when trying to discourage certain behaviours.  Here it would have been preceded by a warning that it contains images that some people may find upsetting and would be followed by a phone number to contact if you were distressed by it.

[Nearholmer]

Having done the stupid thing, tripped over a kerb, and crashlanded heavily into a set of iron railings, I can advise against it on the basis of personal discomfort and public humiliation.

[Joseph_Pestell]

I was nearly run over in a supermarket car park by a "white van man" who was texting. So I feel quite strongly about this subject.

 

The recent increase in penalties is simply not enough because it is not working. Anyone found driving and texting should be banned from driving for a very long time.

[Titan]

I was nearly run over in a supermarket car park by a "white van man" who was texting. So I feel quite strongly about this subject.

 

The recent increase in penalties is simply not enough because it is not working. Anyone found driving and texting should be banned from driving for a very long time.

You could have life imprisonment and it would not make the slightest difference. Risk of actually getting caught is what changes people's behaviour.

[Welly]

Finally, a video of someone tripping over one of those yellow signs - let's get rid of them! 

 

Seriously, these "Phone Zombies" are a pest, I often yell,"Excuse me!" when I see one of them lurch towards me whilst re-posting some cute kitten photo to another Faecalbook feed. 

 

We don't have enough highway police officers to catch them out nor do we have enough cameras able to see into both the windscreens as well as the number plates 

[jjb1970]

I notice that it was produced in South Africa.

 

It seems that there and in particular in Australia, their governments aren't afraid to use hard hitting images when trying to discourage certain behaviours.

Where this is really obvious is if you compare news reporting overseas. UK news is very sanitised, watch the way Middle Eastern channels report what happens in Iraq, Syria etc and it is brutal. At one time I admired our restraint as I thought that showing film of mutilated bodies and worse robbed the dead and injured of dignity. Over the years however I've came to feel that our sanitised news affects behaviour and contributes to the Western conception of war as being a computer game which is all very clean and pain free. If people were forced to confront the consequences of war in a way older generations had to it might be better for society. And I am in no way a pacifist or opposed to military action where it is needed but neither am I oblivious to what air strikes and military intervention actually means.

[brianusa]

This is a world wide problem with no real solution.  Too many get away with it and the penalties are not severe enough to deter anyone.  As just about everybody indulges at one time or another, this is passed on to the children who consequently see no problem, especially as their parents show no restraint and so it goes....................

 

Brian.

[eastglosmog]

Many quarries insist you must stand still if using a mobile phone (not that you can get a signal in many of them).  There have  been cases reported of people walking over quarry faces whilst engrossed in phone calls.

[Southernman46]

Recently I was coming down one of the Jubilee Line escalators at Waterloo and as I neared the bottom observed a oriental person on his phone texting or blogging or face-palming or whatever the f*ck these cretins do whilst they are walking, go obliviously to walk UP the down escalator .............. at which point I yelled at him "It's going down" and miracle of miracles he stopped, thereby saving himself from having his legs yanked out from under him and serious injury and more importantly me having to render first aid to the stupid .............. despite being in uniform I was unable to stop myself saying rudely right into his face ............... "Get your nose out of your damn phone and pay attention !!" ............ the stupid git just grinned inanely.

[Reorte]

Where this is really obvious is if you compare news reporting overseas. UK news is very sanitised, watch the way Middle Eastern channels report what happens in Iraq, Syria etc and it is brutal. At one time I admired our restraint as I thought that showing film of mutilated bodies and worse robbed the dead and injured of dignity. Over the years however I've came to feel that our sanitised news affects behaviour and contributes to the Western conception of war as being a computer game which is all very clean and pain free. If people were forced to confront the consequences of war in a way older generations had to it might be better for society. And I am in no way a pacifist or opposed to military action where it is needed but neither am I oblivious to what air strikes and military intervention actually means.

Conversely too much exposure to it and people just become indifferent. Anyway going to war isn't a popular thing to do, so I'm not sure that showing gruesome things on the TV will do anything other than pointlessly upset people.

[Reorte]

This is a world wide problem with no real solution.  Too many get away with it and the penalties are not severe enough to deter anyone.  As just about everybody indulges at one time or another, this is passed on to the children who consequently see no problem, especially as their parents show no restraint and so it goes....................

The penalties probably seem too distant and unrelated. This sounds like a joke but I'm being serious - the penalty for driving whilst texting or on the phone should be the removal of the phone and being banned from having one. I honestly believe that would be treated as a more meaningful, relatable threat.

[stewartingram]

Like every other rule - useless unless policed.

 

Stewart

[kevinlms]

I notice that it was produced in South Africa.

 

It seems that there and in particular in Australia, their governments aren't afraid to use hard hitting images when trying to discourage certain behaviours.  Here it would have been preceded by a warning that it contains images that some people may find upsetting and would be followed by a phone number to contact if you were distressed by it.

Agreed, the TAC in Victoria, Australia were behind the 'Drink Drive, B l o o d y Idiot' campaign (I wrote it that way, because the auto censor will probably block it - as did the NSW government for the same reason - blasphemy!). However the Victorian government were more enlightened & determined that the drink driving massage was FAR more important.

 

The first TV and cinema ad on this topic was called 'Girlfriend' and is included in this link. I won't even pretend to describe it.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/greg-harper-mastermind-behind-behind-drink-drive-bloody-idiot-ads-passes-away-20170114-gtrh5i.html

[jjb1970]

Conversely too much exposure to it and people just become indifferent. Anyway going to war isn't a popular thing to do, so I'm not sure that showing gruesome things on the TV will do anything other than pointlessly upset people.

There is something in that, but people in this country have a very sanitised image of war that encourages apathy. If people get upset by the images of broken bodies I'm not sure it would upset people pointlessly, I'd view as being more making people confront the consequences of actions carried out in their name.

I tend to take a similar view to safety in general. If people saw the consequences of accidents they might reconsider their behaviour.

[RJD]

The Utah, USA, Highway Patrol has a van equipped to sense people texting as they drive the freeways.  It's at Deseret News of 13 July.   See link. 

 

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865684802/Troopers-have-a-new-tool-to-spot-distracted-drivers.html

 

I really hope it works and texters are fined.  

[Tim R-T-C]

A good quality camera with polarising filter would work just fine to catch people in the act.

[PatB]

In Perth we have these guys.

 

Anecdotal experience suggests that they have had the added bonus of making motorists more aware of motorcycles in traffic.

[Welly]

^^^

^^^

The sooner we have these spotter vans and bikes in the UK, the better!

Edited July 21, 2017 by Welly

[Fat Controller]

^^^

^^^

The sooner we have these spotter vans and bikes in the UK, the better!

Kent Police use a HGV with a person with a camera in the passenger seat.

[PatB]

Kent Police use a HGV with a person with a camera in the passenger seat.

Must be fun squeezing between lanes .

[57xx]

In Perth we have these guys.

 

Anecdotal experience suggests that they have had the added bonus of making motorists more aware of motorcycles in traffic.

 

Love the last one on the clip "You,ve been recorded for using it for the last 5 seconds with my lights on. You have no idea whats going on around you M'am!" 

[Giles]

My wife (who rides her motorbike to work everyday up the A40 into London) was delighted to follow a Police bike, who was slowly filtering through, checking each and every vehicle driver.....

 

I know when I make the trip, there are between 10 and 20 percent texting or similar in the slow moving traffic. All types of people, in all types of vehicles.