Do you text and drive?? ( Archived) (29)

No.... I like living and so do others......

I HAVE BEEN DRIVING AND TEXING FOR OVER 2 YEARS NOW NEVER HAD A FENDER BENDER..IT GOES BACK TO THAT OLD SAYING CANYOU TALK AND CHEW BUBBLE GUM AT THE SAME TIME..IF YOU CAN YOU CAN TEXT LMAO..

If I may be so bold, THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING.

Even using a hands free phone can get you a custodial sentence
as the article below shows.
Its interesting to see how road safety groups have jumped on
this to call for an all out ban on using phones whilst driving.
A step too far I feel.



Hands-free phone driver convicted of causing death by dangerous driving


A lorry driver who caused a fatal accident during a hands-free mobile phone call was jailed for four-and-a-half years yesterday.

Road safety groups responded by calling for a blanket ban on phone calls at the wheel.

Haulier Mervyn Richmond, 49, had been talking to his mother for 23 minutes using the Bluetooth connection in his cab.

Lincoln Crown Court heard he concentrated on the conversation to the point of being 'oblivious to all around him' and failed to spot a line of stationary traffic on the straight dual carriageway ahead.

Richmond's Scania HGV ran into the back of a Transit van without braking – killing its passenger, father-of-two Michael Buston in March last year.

Last night, after a jury took an hour to convict him of causing death by dangerous driving, safety experts called for the ban on handheld mobile phones at the wheel to be extended to hands-free calls.

Roger Vincent, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: 'When you are using any mobile while driving you are four times more likely to have an accident.'

He added that the conversation is the problem as drivers get 'more involved in that and pay less and less attention to the road'.

The court heard the tragedy unfolded after driver Andrejz Matkowski stopped at the side of the A631 at Corringham, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, to consult a map.

Mr Buston, 36, a utilities company worker of Grimsby, Lincolnshire, was killed in the 'concertina collision' as traffic built up behind the car, while his brother-in-law, Peter Long, was also badly injured.

Mr Matkowski's arms were both sliced off by the force of the impact.

Robert Underwood, prosecuting, told the court that although the road was a 'poor place' for Mr Matkowski to stop, it could not excuse Richmond's driving.

The court heard Richmond was so distracted he ignored a driver who flashed his lights to indicate he could pull into the outside lane to avoid the obstruction ahead.

He blamed sunlight reflecting off his mirror for failing to notice the queue of traffic ahead.

Mr Underwood told the jury: 'Rather than braking in anticipation of what was ahead, his lorry was actually speeding up at the point at which it ran into the back of the Transit.'

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I can even text will standing still.

I'll admit I did text and drive or smoke and drive drink-non alcoholic- eat and drive play with the radio change cds use the phone/internet all kinds of things. Lately I have found myself in more and more close calls so I have stopped doing anything while driving. I have lived in this town my whole life. I delivered pizzas for almost 10 years and drove a cab for 2 years I have been so used to multi tasking while driving I just never thought about it before. I now however do understand the accidents that can take place when you are not 100%. I have lost a few good friends from a number of accidents and take things a bit more seriously now than I did before. I think that if a person causes an accident to the point of fatalities than yes they should go to prison. I don't believe you will ever stop people from using their phones while driving but maybe if the penalty was stricter than more people may think twice about it. Don't people have enough on their mind without trying to answer a text the second it comes in?

I meant can't even text while standing still.

The only other skills I have while driving is having a smoke and drinking my morning coffee. I don't attempt more than that.