Warning Shocking And To The Point

[fordmad12]

Just a reminder to those idiots who still think its clever......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCegx22IzdY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Now for the discussions........

[fordmad12]

Typical, something safety wise and no link!!!

[FOCA]

I think it probably has more impact to those who are already aware how dangerous this is

[Stoney871]

Now for the discussions........

From my point of view no discussions needed.

The video says everything all by itself.

When you have actually attended scenes like this yourself and seen the devastation, words no longer convey the anger and frustration.

[b1g_dav3]

Is it bad that instead of thinking about how bad texting was, why the guy who beeped didn't try to swerve, and why the car that then hit side on was on the wrong side of the road? >_>

[jeebowhite]

Its certainly a striking video and shows just how much goes into saving someones backside after this...

The amount of money that would have gone into filming that re-enactment (let alone the real deal) would be running into the best part of 5 if not 6 figures (before decimal point!) then count in the time of the A&E team, the resources, the surgery, the aftercare...

Something like this (and the original act) probably would have cost a minimum of 100k in combination to all the services who were involved for all the individuals concerned.

If you want to text whilst driving, use something like VLINGO (Dragon now I think).

You talk to your phone, tell it the message and the recipient, it types what it hears and goes. I have had full text conversations with the Mrs whilst driving because it reads the message received out loud and I reply to the message verbally when I feel I am in a comfortable position to do so. Hands do not touch phone, and eyes do not leave road. if your going to type a message in the same way, have a thought for those people who are going to have to clean you up off the road, and all others you drag into the situation.

As a first aider (nothing fancy) I feel obliged to stop at every scene of every accident I come across, to make sure everyone is ok and to help. I have seen a few messy ones and have been there to help police and ambulance at the scene. I have in no way seen incidents that others such as Clive above would have attended, but I have been involved in a few and trust me, when your down there first hand seeing the devastation, it really is striking.

[b1g_dav3]

I even see voice texting as being an issue, as it's still distracting because you'll still check to see if it's right, that second you're looking at the phone BAM you're now half tree.

[jeebowhite]

I never look at the phone the Mrs laughs when it translates my words into something unexpected And I only tend to use it in rare circumstances, the last one being in labour when she couldn't talk on the way back from work. That was half a year ago.

[SeanW]

That was an incredibly well done video!

Personally, I can't even walk and text...don't even attempt it when driving! There are enough distractions as it is! !

[Major Eazy]

Is it bad that instead of thinking about how bad texting was, why the guy who beeped didn't try to swerve, and why the car that then hit side on was on the wrong side of the road? >_>

Where is he going to swerve to?

Swerve to the left and he drives off the road and into trees or whatever.

Swerve to the right, and he drives into oncoming traffic, the cars behind the girl's car.

As for right after the impact of the two cars, why was there another car coming on the wrong side of the road? Well, it could be a car behind the car that is behind the girl's car, and he had started overtaking. It is possible that you can start overtaking just when accident happens.

Anyway, the girl who was texting, her actions will lead to other things happening.

[Stoney871]

Basically the upshot of the situation was that the drivers lack of attention due to texting was the catalyst for the whole RTC.

Bear in mind though that any activity a driver is undertaking that takes their mind/eyes off the road can cause the same results.

That's why there's a catch all charge of driving without due care.

Fiddling with a radio, satnav, lighter or even eating/drinking while driving can and indeed does result in prosecution.

I've pulled people before for doing crosswords and reading books on motorways while doing 90mph.

Some drivers crass stupidity has no bounds.

[Major Eazy]

Basically the upshot of the situation was that the drivers lack of attention due to texting was the catalyst for the whole RTC.

Bear in mind though that any activity a driver is undertaking that takes their mind/eyes off the road can cause the same results.

I agree but there's nothing much more we can do, it is the human nature, even checking your left blind spot by looking over your left shoulder, for the cyclist you were sure is supposed to be somewhere in your blind spot, may be an important safety thing, but well then there you go, your mind is thinking about if the cyclist is still within your blind spot, your mind is not on what is ahead of you on the road, and your eyes are off the road, taking a quick look to confirm that cyclist is there or not there, so even if you have to focus 100% on what is ahead, you could still knock the cyclist down because you did not see the cyclist. No matter how hard we try, we can't be 100% free of accidents, one way or another it will happen, you got to remember Murphy's Law. Unless we all give up cars.

That's why there's a catch all charge of driving without due care.

Fiddling with a radio, satnav, lighter or even eating/drinking while driving can and indeed does result in prosecution.

I've pulled people before for doing crosswords and reading books on motorways while doing 90mph.

Some drivers crass stupidity has no bounds.

Are you that guy who found the woman doing a crossword strapped to her leg? I still remember that documentary programme on television years ago, a police officer mention during interview that he drove past a car, found a woman strap a crossword puzzle to her tights, and was working on it, I believe she was travelling from London to Manchester. Unless you meant to say that there are actually other people doing the same thing somewhere else??

[Stoney871]

I've avoided being in TV cop shows so far, way too ugly :p

I've had people reading books, doing word search books, marking college coursework etc.

Some people are so dumb it hurts.

[theduke]

i have a habit of giving a good long horn blast when i see people blatantly texting on theyre phones and fair play most !Removed! themselves because they think theyre about to crash and burn, and i am technically making them aware of my presence

[TDCiST]

Agree with stoney here... Although not doing the job full time, I've been to my fair share of RTCs now, I say 50% of these are mobile related.

The last one was nasty... And the guy took out 3 other vehicles in the process, 2 of which were on the other carriageway!

My view, no phonecall or txt is important enough to not pull off somewhere safe to read/talk... Even if it is something major, Better to arrive alive and all that!

[b1g_dav3]

Makes no sense to risk lives, when you can actually answer phones with voice commands on speaker now as well, or have bluetooth devices/headsets that do the same.

[Stoney871]

For the sake of a £4 bluetooth earpiece from Tesco's it's a no brainer.

The amount a pulled driver says to me "haven't you got anything better to do than pull us over just to earn a fine" bugs me.

I don't pull for the fine, I do it because they're breaking the law.

End of chat.

[b1g_dav3]

On the subject of having nothing better to do... I keep being pulled for random breath tests -.-

Is it the fact they follow me from leaving the pub, or the fact I have to dodge about 5,000 pot holes? Or is it nothing better to do? :P

It does make little sense at how cheap it is though, I mean a smartphone mount is about a fiver, so if you don't want a headset then set your phone to driving mode where it will go off voice and off you go, or don't use the phone at all anyway -.- it's not going to kill you if your bezzie mate doesn't tell you who she copped off with the night before for an extra 5 minutes :P

[hubby1959]

I've no patience with idiots that use their phones while driving, for the sake of a few quid for either a headset or car kit it's a no brainer.

Personally I've had a nokia bluetooth kit in my last 5 cars, (Same car kit, just move it from car to car when I change them), and my phone is always in the pouch on my belt, and on the rare occasion I do get a call then all I have to do is hit the button on the dash and talk into the mic.

I think mine cost me £30 at the time, much better than whatever the fine is these days

[Stoney871]

The fine was recently upped to £100 but still 3 points endorsement.

Even if someone doesn't like earpieces there's loads of units that just clip onto the sun visor and cost sod all.

[jeebowhite]

I got one of those bluetooth sun visors for about £20 for my last car, the new one has a bluetooth stereo anyway...

There's no excuse to be honest, I love watching cop shows where you get professional drivers pulled for this... "I cant afford one" or "I cant find them anywhere" - very poor excuses indeed!

Simple answer, its cheaper to get one of those than get pulled once for the offense!

[hubby1959]

_{Wasn't sure if it was an endorseable offence, thanks for clearing that up for us Clive}

[fordmad12]

Had a feeling this would be a good topic.