UKC

I think in this order texting, using mobile without hands free and then drinking hot drinks whilst driving are really anti social, though I think drinking a cold drink from a sports type bottle ok. If you were being given a lift by someone would you actually ask the driver to stop for any, non or all those things.
Cheers sjc

In reply to sjc:

Its all about where you draw the line. Things that need a break of concentration to refocus the eyes are bad (text, phoning) stuff that just needs a second to glance off the road are fine IMO - reach for cup, change station on radio etc. After all, a seconds glance away from the road is fine - using mirrors for example

<posted from the M6, don't worry though, traffic is horrendous, not doing more than 60>

In reply to sjc:

Seriously? Firstly I'm assuming that by anti-social you mean dangerous? Secondly, if you're a passenger then you can just help, holding the coffee, rolling the cigarettes, sparking up the jet boil, pouring the Jägerbomb's etc.

I think if you've got passengers it's probably common decency to stop for toilet breaks instead of using old orange juice bottles but apart from that just keep the foot on the gas as far as I'm concerned, if I'm a passenger then it's me getting held up with constant stops just as much as them. I'd probably shy away from eating things like pasta and cereal at night though, but then maybe I'm just getting old and cautious!

In reply to Sharp:



Truckers Tizer!

In reply to sjc:

Where would you rank playing a selection of Hasbro classics such as Buckaroo or Operation?

In reply to Nevis-the-cat:

Or swigging buckfast from the bottle ?

In reply to Nevis-the-cat:

Ker Plunk can be a bugger when the marbles get under the pedals.

Personally I prefer the challenge of making sandwiches whilst driving - steering wheels should be flat so you can balance the bread board better when you're slicing tomatoes.

In reply to sjc:
I think all of the above are okay to do as long as you're still concentrating. I regularly use Siri on my iPhone to help text whilst driving. Wearing no seatbelt is also okay !

In reply to goldcoastjjc:

None of the above are 'OK', people are not good judges of whether or not they are 'concentrating' (just see the statistics on the number of people who rate themselves 'better than average' at driving).

As a passenger, most of the time I let these things slide since I'd rather take the risk than walk. However as a driver you have a duty of care ( or should have) for your passengers, and using Siri, texting or anything that isn't driving is pretty bad form, IMHO.

Andrew.

In reply to planetmarshall:


I think it largely depends on context, driving 20 mins on the way to work on A roads is different to driving 5 hours on the motorway. Having music, news radio, water, cigarettes, coffee, a sandwich to munch on etc. keep you sane. I don't see them as being particularly distracting. I think it's a fallacy that you can maintain the maximum level of concentration on the road for that length of time, at least without stopping every 20-30 minutes. There's always going to be a time when you're not focused, whether you have distractions or not it's just a case of how distracting that thing is. For example, making a sandwich is probably overkill, unwrapping a sweet despite taking two hands I don't have a problem with, nor drinking a coffee.

And while were on the subject of passengers, talking to a passenger is way more distracting than taking a quick phone call.

In reply to Sharp:

I can't manage even hands-free phonecalls (I freely admit that this is personal ineptitude) so I don't do that. I can talk to the passenger though.

In reply to Tall Clare:


do you wave your arms when you talk?

In reply to Timmd:

<looks shifty> maybe...

I can't explain it - no logic to it. I'll just stick to knitting instead...

In reply to sjc:

Saw a woman driver dictating into a hand held dictation machine today.

I'm not certain whether this is actually illegal?

In reply to Sharp:



I'm pretty sure plenty of research has been done into this. When you're talking to someone you're sat next to your brain works very differently to talking on the phone.

IIRC the research concludes chatting on the phone is distracting to your brain in a way that chatting to a passenger isn't. Your brain is designed to process conversations with someone in close proximity - evolution needs to catch up a fair bit for our brains to work the same via a phone line!

Mike.

In reply to Otis:

Yes, apparently talking on a phone is similar to having had a few drinks in how it affects concentration.

In reply to sjc:

Some years ago I got myself a reachargeable electric razor so I could shave on the long drive south from Scotland after a weekend's winter climbing so I had one less thing to do that night/next morning.
Over time I came to regard this as a great timesaver and started shaving whilst driving quite often. Apart from covering myself in a fine dust of beard shavings I never regarded it as being anti-social. I could do it by feel so I didn't have to look in the mirror so on motorways and dual carriageways didn't regard it as a hazard any more than using one hand to wind a window down etc.
I don't tend to do it much now as I haven't got the sort of job for which I need to look respectable anymore but in the present policing climate I suspect it could land me with points and a fine. Has anyone ever actually been done for this?

In reply to pec:

Are you talking about shaving your face or your pubes. I believe it`s a mandatory 3 points on your license for the face and 6 points for the pubes.

In reply to sjc:

Surely the bit about beard shavings was the clue, especially if you know I'm male.

In reply to sjc:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-25087651

In reply to sjc:

I can legally do all of those things, because I drive an automatic.

In reply to Submit to Gravity:

You can do all that and you don't even need to indicate if you own a BMW.

In reply to Tall Clare:



You just need a steering wheel tray.

http://www.amazon.com/AutoExec-Wheelmate-Steering-Attachable-Surface/dp/B00...

In reply to sjc:

What about satnavs. I really can't see how someone using or looking at one of these things is being distracted any less than if they were using a mobile phone. OK, they are a bit safer than trying to read a roadmap propped against your steering wheel on the move... Obviously I haven't got one - could someone enlighten me/allay my fears?

In reply to jon:



Don't worry about it.

In reply to Removed User:

This was it, knew there was a vid somewhere. Nobber.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/01/video-edinburgh-driver-eats-corn-flakes-at-th...

In reply to Submit to Gravity:


Thank you. I don't, but I am interested.

In reply to sjc:

Tom tank, anyone?

In reply to sjc:

I have been asked to take the wheel and steer from the passenger seat. It was dark and on a twisty road, the driver was tired after a long day in the hills, I think there was snow on the road as well. We'd had a couple of pints in the pub and he wanted a bottle of beer to drink on the way home. The trouble was his bottle opener was on his key ring, attached to the car key which, of course, was in the ignition. So here's me steering, trying to politely ask him to ease off the accelerator a smidgin so that I could steer round the corners while he fumbled under the steering wheel with the beer bottle and bottle opener, trying to open the bottle without pulling the key out of the ignition...

In retrospect it probably wasn't very safe and maybe I could have vocalised some sort of dissent, or at least disapproval.

In reply to sjc:

I suppose holding the wheel for the driver whilst they choke down a hot knife is out?

In reply to ice.solo:

it was de rigeur in my youth

Now i live in a country where absolutely anything goes....and i i mean anything

In reply to Kimono:

Oregon?

In reply to ice.solo:

Oregon's nothing...i used to live in Montana

In reply to sjc:

Texting whilst driving I see as worse than phoning I frequently curse drivers who do this. Especially the woman who cut me up on a roundabout this evening - whilst texting! I think my 5 seconds on the horn made her jump!

In reply to Kimono:

Love it. Can be armed too as you do it right?
H s thompson would be proud.

In reply to ice.solo:

Every man (and woman) in Montana has the god-given right to a big f@ck-off truck and a gun

Not to be f@cked with

In reply to Kimono:

Its good to see equality working out.

In reply to sjc:


Where do you stand on hot drinks in sports bottles

In reply to Kimono:



I remember driving through Georgia USA and noting that on country roads that every, and I mean every road sign had bullet holes in them.