Ban drivers who text behind the wheel say parents of killed triathlete

An optional extra to disable all phones in the car while the engine running might be useful - lowers your insurance costs. I could see company fleets going for that.

I really don't see why not? Why should people have 'every right' to use a phone at all times? Some physical system must be developed as it is obvious that enforcement is virtually non-existent.

youngoldbloke wrote:

I really don't see why not? Why should people have 'every right' to use a phone at all times? Some physical system must be developed as it is obvious that enforcement is virtually non-existent.

Because passengers in a car aren't causing any danger by using a phone, and because it's disproportionate to ban all phone use in cars just because of drivers using them. If you want to restrict a right then you need to have very good reason to do it, and at present you don't. Never mind that the technological requirements would be astronomical, in terms of fitting this technology in all new and existing cars, and that disreputable folk would be able to trivially disable it within about 5 mintues of it being introduced and would then just turn it back on for their MOT, same as people do when decatting cars.

vonhelmet wrote:

Because passengers in a car aren't causing any danger by using a phone, and because it's disproportionate to ban all phone use in cars just because of drivers using them.

I do agree with you but the counter argument might be that a ban would reduce incidence of "wasn't me doing the texting, it was my passenger". Is that an actual problem at the moment? In some places, open alcohol containers are not allowed in cars, for this reason I think.

VeloPeo wrote:

I assume people have seen @beztweets takedown of the seemingly piss poor prosecution case from the CPS. Long but well worth a read

https://beyondthekerb.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/somethings-seriously-wron...

This is a very good read.

Of course it's only one side of the story, but the "Trial Notes" section seems to highlight extremely well what a farce of a trial this was, how the defence relied on muddying the waters and hiding behind the burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt and how in doing so, the jury lost sight of the most tangible facts of the case.

If there's one thing that I fear, it would be a trial by a jury of your peers. If you think of what the morals, intelligence and socio-political views are of your average person in this country and realise that half of the jury would fall short of this expectation, that is what you would have to deal with on a jury.

Must be Mad wrote:

I don't understand how the police/courts can possibly enforce a 'no texting while driving' rule when even if you Kill someone, you still get off scott-free.

Quote:

He said that he had been texting using his left hand, typing without looking at the phone so as to keep his attention on the road.

It does sound an amazing skill, but does it need to be demonstrated in order to be believed?

More importantly, how did he know what he was replying to without looking at the text messages received. The decision is a complete farce.

Must be Mad wrote:

I don't understand how the police/courts can possibly enforce a 'no texting while driving' rule when even if you Kill someone, you still get off scott-free.

Quote:

He said that he had been texting using his left hand, typing without looking at the phone so as to keep his attention on the road.

It does sound an amazing skill, but does it need to be demonstrated in order to be believed?

An even more amazing skill is his ability to read the texts sent by his girlfriend without looking at his phone.

The outcome of the trial is just staggering.

griffly16 wrote:

Texting while driving - immediate ban and minimum 1 year suspension. If involved in an accident then possible jail sentence. Worse than drink-driving

And if caught a second time, same thing but 5 year ban, and also confiscate the vehicle (regardless of who owns it, owner can sue the driver for losses if relevant) and auction it off.