New Answer To Idiots Who Use Mobile Phones Whilst Driving

It is so special I have not seen one. Reference plz? :slight_smile:

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It is a test set for old valve two-way radios made by AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australia) who once were one of the largerst manufacturers of radiocommunications in Australia until Skase took them over and sunk them like everything else he touched.

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I simply remembered that back in the day it was AWA that manufactured the radio phones for cars in Australia. There were maybe other manufacturers ?

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The ABC interviewed South Australian traffic law specialist Karen Stanley told ABC Radio Adelaide’s Mornings program that road rules were applicable Australia-wide, with a few slight variations from state to state.

“The road rules define a road as a public area where people drive motor vehicles,” she said.

“So even though it [a drive-through] is privately owned, it’s still considered a public area because part of the business of the takeaway drive-through is that public cars come in and drive through and buy food.”

Of course @PhilT has already explained how that comes about, it would appear to be armour plated but not yet ‘case hardened’!

P.S.

An interesting prospect.
I don’t drive my tractor and use the mobile phone at the same time. Firstly if I drop the mobile it can only go under a wheel. iPhones are tough, but not that crush proof. Secondly farm tractors show little respect for impediments. It pays to stay focused, and ensure the most appropriate of the 24 gears has been selected. Of note, there is no air conditioner and the built in safety is linked to the rumble of the diesel. This ensures the engine is turned off to talk on the mobile.

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Where are the police going to hide? Behind the drive through window?

In any case, they will be up the proverbial with vehicles such as the Mazda CX5 which automatically stop the engine whilst stationary.

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Without comment, from Vicroads, ‘Using a hand-held mobile phone is also illegal when your vehicle is stationary but not parked e.g. when you’re stopped at traffic lights’ and a composite from multiple sources suggests the police can prevail unless you are parked per ‘off the road and the car is secured in a way that would allow the driver to leave it, eg engine off, handbrake on, keys out of the ignition, etc’

A problem with many of our laws is the discretionary nature whereby government assures reasonable discretion will be used in the application. Right they will. Parking on a nature strip is my fav. It is common and on many narrow streets is the only way to keep the street passable. But let a single person complain and all of a sudden that discretion is cancelled and a ticket issued.

From NSW

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One would think that the police would actually target the multitudes of drivers who use their mobiles constantly on public roads, thus creating a real danger, before they stoop to these sort of petty Gestapo tactics so as to try to make life difficult for drivers who do the right thing on the roads by not using their mobiles whilst driving.

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The stupid thing is that the left hand of government doesn’t know what the right hand of government is doing.

The left hand is saying: don’t use cash, you are obviously a criminal if you use cash. Consultation on the Cash Transactions Ban Bill

The right hand is saying: we will make it less convenient for you to use one of the payment alternatives to cash (a mobile payment app).

Admittedly the left hand is “Commonwealth” and the right hand is “State”, so no real surprise that they are not well coordinated.

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Whilst I am totally opposed to using mobile phones whilst driving by holding them or touching them, I think that this proposal by some UK politicians is really over the top.

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It is because it is still a big distraction to talk on a phone while driving, but then who will stop chatter in the car by occupants?

https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/tools-resources/infographics/hands-free-is-not-risk-free

https://www.rospa.com/road-safety/advice/drivers/distraction/fact-sheet/

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In addition to the idiots who use mobile phones whilst driving, we also have the idiots who use mobile phones whilst walking.

I had 2 of them today at a local shopping centre.

First there was a young Chinese woman who had stopped in the middle of one of the lanes in the underground car park and was looking in the opposite direction until I activated the idiot alert alarm.

Then when I arrived at the pedistrian crossing outside, a young mother was crossing it with her partner and 2 small children, as she slowly dwaddled across it whilst she yapped on her mobile instead of watching her kids.

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Don’t worry. The mobile phone was watching … everything. :slight_smile:

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Yes, it is so terribly inconvenient they allow pedestrians in shopping centre car parks. The only thing worse are those pushing trolleys down the roadway.

What next, speed cameras enforcing the 10kph car park speed limits?

Perhaps they could also enforce a ban on pedestrians using mobile phones or pushing trolleys at the same time?

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And now Manchester has created special lanes so pedestrians can walk with their brains in neutral.

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Manchester, other than football was one city most would question the wisdom of visiting. Although it might not rank as the most boring city in the UK, which some suggest is Birmingham.

Perhaps the city has realised it’s residents and visitors will not notice the boredom, if they are able to be distracted by using their mobile devices in a safe environment.

Having been to Manchester once, it is certainly far from boring, especially when compared with visiting Wigan during the Wakes. :sleeping:

https://www.wigantoday.net/news/remembering-the-tradition-of-wigan-wakes-weeks-1-166538

It was some time back.

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NSW is proceeding with the rollout of 45 fixed cameras to catch idiots who use their mobile phones whilst driving.

Considering that just 2 trial cameras caught 11,000 drivers in just 1 month in comparison to NSW police catching 16,500 drivers so far this year, then the 45 cameras will have an absolute field day.

At $344 a pop, then the 100,000 offenders caught during the trial period would contribute some $34.4 million to the state coffers.

And as opposed to the petty stupidity spruiked by Victorian police regarding it being illegal to use a mobile to pay in a drive-thru, the NSW government is nowhere near as miserable.

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Maybe the NSW (and other) government could remove state taxes with the revenue generated. A win win for law abiding and safer drivers.

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Of course there will be those who accuse the Govt/Govts of revenue raising but the simple answer/fact is if a person does not use a phone while driving they won’t be caught on camera using one so will not be fined for doing so, thus no revenue raised. If someone insists on continuing to use the phones (handheld or similar illegal use) they deserve the fine, same as those who drink & drive while above the permitted level of alcohol in their blood. I have no sympathy for those caught using their phones illegally.

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The other side of the coin is

100,000 of the 85 million drivers checked during a trial were found to be using their phones illegally

So 0.1% of drivers do the wrong thing, 99.9% of drivers do the right thing - and everybody pays with ever more intrusive surveillance.

Isn’t that always the way? The law-abiding majority are punished for the sins of the idiot few.

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8.5 million (not 85 million) making the number of drivers caught as a percent at least 1.1764% or over 1,176 drivers per 100,000 (numbers photoed using phones was in excess of 100,000). There was/is a typo in the side panel of the ABC article that incorrectly states 85 million. Each day in October 2018 in the first part of the trial they were catching 11,000 drivers a day using their phones illegally.

This rate of non compliance is a significant number I think considering we think 5.4 deaths per 100,000 people is a bad road toll for all traffic accidents Australia wide of which 5% are currently attributed to inattention (this % is all causes of death due to inattention but has increased since smart phone usage) to compare numbers. Driving while using a phone increases the risk of a crash by about 4X (400%) not all of which result in death but may likely include injury, & property damage and inconvenience. During a year the NSW police also catch up to another 40,000 or more using phones whilst driving.

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