The Kintyre Forum

Anybody else get annoyed at the number of people who flout the law by using mobile phones while driving? I am amazed at the number of people who probably think they are decent law abiding citizens, but are commiting a criminal offence every day when they get into their cars.

I'm not a mobile phone addict like some people, but use it when it is necessary, and only then. I have on occasion used a mobile phone while driving, but stopped doing it when it became illegal. (That's my self-righteous side coming out.).

Och, you've goat me started noo, Emdee!!!! I get so mad when I see someone doing this and everyone in my family get right affronted when I shout at folk to get off their phones. I was having a wee rant at somebody a few months ago at a crossing and they threw a soggy strawberry at me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was pure red-faced indignant but Mr Govangirl was doubled up laughing. Seriously though, most drivers are embarrassed when I confront them (I reckon the strong Glasgow accent stuns them) and I'm not about to stop anytime soon!!!!!!

Maybe they're not embarrased. Maybe they think you're going to give them a Glasgow kiss!

Yes, well there is that......... but people seem to be truly embarrassed when challenged so I would definitely recommend it if you see someone doing the dastardly deed!!!!

I don't like confrontations. That should be the job of the Police, who have been saying recently that they are going to clamp down on this practice. I must say that I have seen little evidence of the clampdown as yet.

Having said that, I heard that a woman got a fixed penalty last week for eating an ice cream cone while driving along the Esplanade in Oban. I must confess that I didn't know that a fixed penalty was available for such a heinous crime.

EMDEE wrote:I don't like confrontations. That should be the job of the Police, who have been saying recently that they are going to clamp down on this practice. I must say that I have seen little evidence of the clampdown as yet.

Having said that, I heard that a woman got a fixed penalty last week for eating an ice cream cone while driving along the Esplanade in Oban. I must confess that I didn't know that a fixed penalty was available for such a heinous crime.

I believe that the law states that if you see someone driving a vehicle whilst consuming an ice cream cone you should dial 99.

I must admit it bugs me no end - I wonder how many members like me, don't have a mobile or a car.

I also feel that even when using a"hands-free"system the driver is concentrating more on the content of the call,and thereby not being in total control of the vehicle.

I wouldn't have thought so. I have a hands free fitted in my car and it's just like talking to someone in the passenger seat. Only they're not there! A bit like singing along to the radio. I agree you shouldn't use your mobile while driving but don't see the danger in a hands free. Soon we won't be allowed to listen to music in the car for fear of distraction!

EileenH wrote:I wouldn't have thought so. I have a hands free fitted in my car and it's just like talking to someone in the passenger seat. Only they're not there! A bit like singing along to the radio. I agree you shouldn't use your mobile while driving but don't see the danger in a hands free. Soon we won't be allowed to listen to music in the car for fear of distraction!

Depends on your choice of music!

I watched a programme last year that was following a Transport police officer on a his daily duties. It showed him coming across a car crash where a lorry driver had been using his mobile and crashed into an 18 year-old girl driver, crushing her car and killing her. It showed it all, attending the smash, going to tell her mother, it was just horrendous.
It had a huge effect on me. We were talking about it next day at work and everyone felt the same. I can't tolerate people using mobiles whilst driving now. If I'm driving, I always signal to people to put their phone away - they are potential killers in my eyes.

I saw a programme a few months back where the effect of use of a mobile phone on reaction time was measured scientifically. It turned out that it was (if I remember correctly) the equivalent of three measures of spirits. Drunk drivers are now regarded as public enemies. How long is it going to be before mobile phone using drivers are the same?

The Mobile Phone

We lift the phone in modern days and take its use for granted,
It has been there for decades and the letter it’s supplanted,
Its use has speeded up our world and aids communications,
We even can just lift it up and speak to other nations.

The credit for this goes to Alexander Graham Bell,
A Scotsman in America who had done rather well,
His crude device for talking to the person through the wall,
Was embryonic, but with it he made the first phone call.

The principle of Bell’s device then moved in leaps and bounds,
We spotted its potential for the transmission of sounds,
Decades later in our houses it was just the thing,
A status symbol and a useful tool with which to ring.

For many years its only users, (its cost was a bar),
Were businesses and well-heeled individuals, like the car,
Then telephones became the norm and in our house they sat,
And anyone could contact who they wished to have a chat.

But recent years have seen great changes in the phoning scene,
The mobile phone has come along and now it’s quite obscene,
It was a good idea and the principle was great,
But they have come to be a thing that many of us hate.

Like land lines at the start they were for those who were quite flush,
But soon the price came down and we all bought them in a rush,
They clearly have made big inroads upon our phoning habits,
They once were fairly rare and then they seemed to breed like rabbits.

What is the urgent need to phone when we are not at home?
The mobile’s now essential like the wallet, pen and comb,
Are we all that important that we cannot get some peace?
This is the implication of the mobile phone increase.

It is a handy tool to have when there is a real need,
Or we must solve a problem, then it is a boon indeed!
But some will not allow the thing to stay inside their pocket,
I’d say that some of these folk up their arse should get a rocket.

You’ll see some folks go down the street with mobile at their head,
And wonder if the purpose is to give them some street cred,
Sometimes you’ll see them striding out and ranting like a daftie,
And then you see it’s “hands free” and you thought he was a saftie!

The teenage crew as we all know are keen and avid users,
In fact I would suggest that they are telephone abusers,
And those among us who grew up without this phone facility,
Wonder what effect this has on their social ability.

They have a language all their own with which their texts to send,
Which does not honour spelling nor on grammar rules depend,
It’s little wonder English standards have become so low,
When they communicate so much by texting to and fro.

The jangling noise of ring tones all the time annoys us so,
We cannot get away from them no matter where we go,
Then we must listen to one side of boring conversation,
How can we ever get a bit of peace and meditation?

In theory then, the mobile phone’s a wonderful invention,
If it was used as what it is, which should be the intention,
But it is now a menace that is on the fast increase,
Could we not confiscate the lot, then we’d get bloody peace?

emdee(2008)

I can't back this up with a source but I remember reading that more accidents are caused by a driver turning round to look at/speak to an infant in the back seat of a vehicle than as a result of mobile phone usage. That was before hand held usage was banned mind you.

I know that's not a counter argument, I'm not intending it to be but there are probably more distrating things than having a hands free conversation whilst driving.

Superb poem Emdee!