Points of View, Drivers – and mobile phones

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Drivers – and mobile phones

I don’t think all drivers are imbeciles. Equally I think most drivers know that all bikers are not scary hooligans. However the minority of idiots behind wheels do an incredible amount of damage to drivers in general.

Drivers on mobile phones…. Tell me Mr BMW, would you shave with a straight razor blindfolded? Or Ms MG, would you apply your makeup in the dark? (Not that dangerous I know, but still a disaster to her!)

So why risk your life and those forced to share the road with you (we have no choice in you being near us) for the sake of a phone call? Maybe you are prepared to be in pain, be maimed for life, be killed in an RTA. That’s fine if that is your wish but please do it away from me.

Do you really want to do that to someone else? Do you really want to know that you are the reason someone else is hurt, maimed or even dead? It only takes a second for the circumstances around you and your vehicle to change; it will take your brain roughly two seconds to react if you are paying attention, much longer if your attention is being diverted.

Forget bikers for a minute...

Put your own child in the middle of the road in front of you, if you have no children, anyone you care about…. Wouldn’t you want the driver that has to stop/swerve/react to be paying as much attention as possible?

We’re all just people. We all hurt. We can all be maimed or killed. We all have loved ones whose lives will be altered forever by your actions.

You may decry bikers for speeding… how many bikers speed whilst on the phone? How many bikers do you see on a phone? Bikes require 90% concentration and more at speed. Car manufacturers make it easy for you, you have brake assist, only a very few bikes have this, you have airbags, we have none, you have crash impact systems, we have leather and helmets, you have seat belts, we have tarmac, other vehicles, central reservations or lamp posts to stop our flight.

We don’t ask you to give up these things, we don’t ask you to give way, we don’t ask you to slow down, we only ask you to show us & other road users; bicyclists, pedestrians, other car drivers some respect by paying as much attention to the road and your actions as you can.

Update (2012) - my views here have hardly changed. The law has changed though and yet daily I see motorists holding phones, texting at (illegal) speeds. If anything the situation has been exacerbated with satellite navigation systems, people also fiddle with these whilst on the road. My P.O.V. remains the same - just stop it please - Give the road the attention the rest of us deserve.