Mobile Phone Fines

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by Top_Ghia

Nothing brings me more joy than watching cops book people for using their phone in their car. As a cop you could just sit at one intersection all day and book hundreds of dim witted drivers. So much joy.

And so much easier than investigating drug dealers,paedophiles and axxxholes who bash their wives because their dinner was cold when they got home late from the pub

[Top_Ghia]

That's right. It's easy and fun. Win win.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

And so much easier than investigating drug dealers,paedophiles and axxxholes who bash their wives because their dinner was cold when they got home late from the pub

I think that you'll find that HP rarely do any of these things so it's a rather moot point.

Their job is traffic offences.

[Giant Cranium]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

And so much easier than investigating drug dealers,paedophiles and axxxholes who bash their wives because their dinner was cold when they got home late from the pub

That's why they have the traffic dept and gd. Very unlikely unless your are a jerk to get done by a gd or d

[Road Games]

If a car is wandering in front of me now they get the hi-beam treatment until they get out of my lane.. Then if i manage to pass and they are still using the phone they get the horn as well .

Muppets !!

[Road Games]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

And so much easier than investigating drug dealers,paedophiles and axxxholes who bash their wives because their dinner was cold when they got home late from the pub

WOW ..




Just WOW



Great post there champ

[Blue Shadow]

Originally Posted by b0son

What rule? In NSW, RTA simply recommend that you dont, but there is no specific offence.

Well go try it

[delboy67]

Originally Posted by DAZZLR

If a car is wandering in front of me now they get the hi-beam treatment until they get out of my lane.. Then if i manage to pass and they are still using the phone they get the horn as well .

Muppets !!

Well said

[ford71V8]

Originally Posted by DAZZLR

If a car is wandering in front of me now they get the hi-beam treatment until they get out of my lane..

Username checks out

[dopeydazza]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

Its all there in black and white. She was USING the phone. Its not up to the cops to argue the degree of the offence, the law was broken-If you want to argue, take it to court and loose.

300—Use of mobile phones
(1) The driver of a vehicle (except an emergency vehicle or police vehicle) must not use a mobile phone while the vehicle is moving, or is stationary but not parked, unless the driver is exempt from this rule under another law of this jurisdiction

use, in relation to a mobile phone, includes the following:
(a) holding the phone to, or near, the ear (whether or not engaged in a phone call);
(b) creating, sending or looking at a text or video message on the phone;
(c) turning the phone on or off;
(d) operating any other function of the phone.

The 1 marked (d) has me interested as I have my smart phone in a cradle on BA dash (cradle slides into cd slot) and connect BA aux plug into smart phone headphone jack for listening to downloaded music. So I can get done for swiping screen changing music or replaying a good song even though it is not being used as a phone ? I been meaning to ask that question for awhile, but this may answer it for me. I understand a commercially fitted phone holder is legal to use, but the part defining 'commercially fitted' I can not seem to find details on. Unlesssss that changed as well.

[Blue Shadow]

Originally Posted by dopeydazza

The 1 marked (d) has me interested as I have my smart phone in a cradle on BA dash (cradle slides into cd slot) and connect BA aux plug into smart phone headphone jack for listening to downloaded music. So I can get done for swiping screen changing music or replaying a good song even though it is not being used as a phone ? I been meaning to ask that question for awhile, but this may answer it for me. I understand a commercially fitted phone holder is legal to use, but the part defining 'commercially fitted' I can not seem to find details on. Unlesssss that changed as well.

Comercially fitted means that it is a purpose made product i.e. it is made to hold a phone on to a car dash and it is not say a coat hanger bent to hold the phone to the dash. It also must be placed on the dash so as not to take your eyes to far away from the road or
So it is reasonable that your peripheral vision is in view of the road.
Placement is a big thing even with satnavs, there are rules about where on the screen they can be put
As for the music thing it is a function of the phone

[ea90gl]

Goodness me, what have we all become in this country according to the media beat up that we all seem to believe and agree with (more so the brainwashed sheep of our community who believe everything they are told and feel that they have to agree with the general consensus other wise "they will not fit in"....

Let me start off by saying that I do not condone any stupid activities performed behind the wheel whilst driving a motor vehicle and if you are performing any obvious activities that take away your concentration from driving and are caught then you should most definitely be dealt a blow but come on.....

The media has told us that we should not even touch or look at our mobile phones while driving since it may ultimately cause the death of untold young children and the death of untold happy families whilst driving. This has been drilled into us so they can justify the ridiculous fines and demerit points they issue to a person caught "using" their mobile phone at any point in time while driving. This is nothing but PURE REVENUE RAISING end of story.

Yet we are allowed to drive stressed out, tired, anxious, play with the cruise control, enter radio stations into our car's audio system, play with the wiper settings, adjust our seat positions, have a laugh with the passenger that you are driving with, adjust the clock that the vehicle came with (where does it end?) that ultimately distract us from concentrating whilst driving in the exact same way as checking a text message at the stop lights. The difference with all of above and mobile phone usage is it is harder for the police to enforce and pinpoint the above in order to dish out that fine to the driver.

You cannot seriously tell me that checking your phone at the stoplights is a criminal offence. I understand that the fines for doing so are there to try stop further usage of a mobile phone whilst driving but as mentioned, there are many many many other things that we could be doing whilst driving that most definitely distract us however since they are not able to be pinpointed they go unnoticed....

To be perfectly frank the laws in this country are becoming more and more ridiculous and are obvious that they have been made to produce more money for the Government.

I seriously do not care if you disagree with me, it most likely means you are a brain washed sheep who is willing to accept what you are told by the general media.

Flame suit on and I am ready to go LOL

[Express]

Originally Posted by ea90gl

The media has told us that we should not even touch or look at our mobile phones while driving since it may ultimately cause the death of untold young children and the death of untold happy families whilst driving. This has been drilled into us so they can justify the ridiculous fines and demerit points they issue to a person caught "using" their mobile phone at any point in time while driving. This is nothing but PURE REVENUE RAISING end of story.

This is not an Australian thing as studies all over the world have proven humans cannot give the act of driving its due diligence whilst using a phone.

Studies link similarities between it and drink driving.

In some European countries phones must be turned off while in the car and they have roadside scanners to check vehicles as they drive by and you can’t programme your GPS unless the vehicle is stationary with the engine turned off.

Even my Merc warns me on startup that the use of the GPS whilst driving is against the law in some countries.

I’m old enough to remember the high percentage of people who believed drinking didn’t affect their driving and were totally against the introduction of drink driving laws and RBT’s.

It took years before it was drummed home not to drink and drive and it didn’t happen until society started to frown on those that did and we are now going through the same cycle with driving while on the phone.

We are all entitled to have differing opinions on the subject but speed laws because they are easy to monitor with machines do make for great revenue raisers but phone usage is only detected by police patrols which puts it in a different category.

I also remember the introduction of seatbelts, wow what a nanny state we were becoming.

And I'm sure there are many other activities within cars that make for risky driving but if you notice manufacturers are slowly starting to make some of them safer by providing controls via the steering wheel or voice command.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by ea90gl

I seriously do not care if you disagree with me, it most likely means you are a brain washed sheep who is willing to accept what you are told by the general media.

Nice assumption.

Checking a phone at a red light might not be that dangourous, but it causes more traffic jams because the idiots looking at their phones don't go when the light goes green. By the time someone has the courage to beep them, 4 or more cars may not get through that green. When it's busy, if that is happening seceral times and hour, it adds up to a lot more traffic.
If you cannot go for a drive without looking at your phone, you have the attention span of a 1 year old.
If you rely on your phone for business, why wouldn't you get a hands free kit? Almost every new car has it, aftermarket ones are cheaper than a fine.


I was driving behind a car the other day that crossed to the wrong side of the road across double lines while a truck was approaching. Luckily they turned back in time, but at the next set of lights they were reusing right and I looked across to see a phone in her hand.
I guess of a cop fined her it would be just for revenue raising

[Shonky.]

you're not the first person who has eluded to economic inefficiency cause by people slowing traffic down by being distracted by their phone

the impact of this would be a drop in the ocean compared to the economic waste of the speeding revenue model our dishonest state clings too

roads that used to move at 65 to 70km/hr are now choked at 45km/hr by people terrified of having their money stolen for going 10% over the speed limit and focusing on driving instead of staring at the speedometer

this money is then transferred to the wasteful public sector who squanders it, instead of boosting the local economy like it does as disposable income in the hands of households

its a double hit - slow down the working day of millions of Australians, then steal their money and waste it

phone users are not the economic value destroying time thieves, the state is

[Ben73]

I'm not saying people who cannot go on green are ruining the states economy, but they are inconsiderate and and rude toward other road users. Also it would increase the chances of road rage. Some people flip out over the most minor things.

[ea90gl]

OK I can understand all of your arguments in relation to mobile phone usage but there are a few counter-points to be made by my-self. I definitely agree to a certain degree however you cannot simply put the blame entirely on mobile phone usage.

To Express - you push the whole studies argument however this is exactly what I am trying to say - a new study has been released, a new news article has been released, a new announcement from who ever has been released so let's just believe everything we are told and make sure to abide by what we have been told to do instead of thinking for our selves. THINK FOR YOURSELF and things may be better down the long track. There are things that most definitely aid in safety (such as seat belts) and I completely agree that they should be utilised, however things like these are a little different to the Nanny laws and regulations that we currently have to deal with.

To Ben73 - Do you seriously think that accumulated traffic is primarily a result of mobile phone usage? I currently reside in Adelaide and do approximately 600KM per week (which is a very high amount of KM for this city that I currently reside in) and let me tell you that it has nothing to do with mobile phone usage at all. It most definitely comes from people who believe exactly what they are told to do and do not have the capability to think for them selves which therefore means they do not know how to drive. Just because you witnessed one situation where a slow/unsafe driver was consumed by their mobile phone does not mean that the rest of the population is also consumed by the use of their mobile phones whilst driving. If I got one dollar for every time I have passed a stupid slow driver who was not on their mobile phone I would not have to work, simple as that.

Once again I do not condone the usage of mobile phones while driving. I have most definitely utilised my new own personal work van's hands free system to make calls etc. To be honest (and I do not pride myself with this), I used to make phone calls, send texts etc while driving ALL of the time. The difference being is I now the limits and I knew what was ultimately right and wrong and knew what I was capable of (due to being able to think for my self).

[petchyboy]

Mobile phones certainly are a distraction whilst driving, however I don't see an issue whilst stationary. I got booked 3 years ago for checking the weather radar on the phone whilst stationary at the lights. How is that any different to changing the radio station, lighting a cigarette or drinking a coffee or watching someone across the road or a nice car driving past? What's the worst that can happen, the car behind gives you a polite toot.....

Drivers need more training on how to drive properly and safely. The issue is drivers are so worried about getting fined particularly for speeding that they stare so much inside the car at the dash with limited time looking outside. What's safer, driving at 75kph in a 70 zone looking constantly outside the car and well ahead anticipating traffic and dangerous situations or driving at 60kph holding up traffic and staring inside the car to ensure you are well under the limit and not noticing that young kid on a bike?

Sure stopping distances will be longer for the car at 75kph but how much speed can you wipe off in the first second because you were paying attention? Anything that's less than 10km/hr over the limit shouldn't be fined. Anything over that is fair game.

[Shonky.]

Originally Posted by Ben73

I'm not saying people who cannot go on green are ruining the states economy, but they are inconsiderate and and rude toward other road users. Also it would increase the chances of road rage. Some people flip out over the most minor things.

that's true, my comments were a bit uppity given what you said

think I had this one rattling round in my head still, which did go a bit further down that pathway

Originally Posted by Brazen

I've started taking the bus now I live in a city to work. Sitting in buses It is simply staggering seeing the effect of phones in traffic. In peak hour at red lights it is not uncommon to see 10-20% of drivers checking their phones at red lights.

The light goes green... they sit there.. don't move... glance up... realise they are holding up traffic and move forward.

I honestly think each intersection gets less cars through due to hold ups and delays due to people on phones while at red lights. Multiply 2 or 3 less cars through an intersection every 30 seconds by thousands of intersection across the entire road network.

Imagine the social, financial and environmental costs across the millions of people in traffic each day due to phones. I think we could wipe off an easy 5% of the average peak hour commute travel times if people didn't use their fricken phones in the car.

[Ben73]

Yes of course useless people drive slow because they have no confidence, or are scared of a ticket, but I don't think means it's ok for others should be sitting at a green staring at their phone.
"Oh if you are not held up by me texting you will just be held up by the granny down the road driving slow"
Where do we draw the line?

It was not just one incident of bad driving I have seen due to phone use. I see it everyday, sometimes multiple times a day. This one just stood out because they almost had a head on with a truck and had a baby seat in the back.