Not me either. I'm one of those dinosaurs who doesn't even own a mobile phone.... and if I was ever to change music on my 8 Track while driving I'm also too much of a dinosaur to be having a dashcam pointing at me and catching every nose pick...

I can totally see where Newres is coming from.
I think many of us have taken our eyes off the road to check something in the Glovebox/radio/phone at some point.
Those who vehemently deny that they have are probably the worst offenders... !

The guy did not set out to kill people I'm sure.
However as a "professional" driver he should have ensured his attention was on the road.
Certainly had a car ploughed into the back of the traffic jam dare I say the family may still be together today.

While there is absolutely zero excuses for the lorryist's actions we can understand we may have all been there before.
That being said the video shows him paying next to no attention for upwards of 45 seconds and for me I may glance at the stereo while messing with the music rather than stare at it...

I agree with your point to a certain extent, but now that this tragedy has had full media exposure surely now there is no excuse?
Let at least some good come from it.

Just as a comparison. The driver of this bus got 14 months. I know that the outcome was different, but to me the driver of the bus deserved 10 years or more. The actual "infringement" of the driver of the bus is far worse than the lorry driver's. Don't get me wrong, I do think the sentence was right for the lorry driver, but I hope you see where I'm coming from in terms of having some "empathy" with the driver. The driver of the bus on the other hand is beyond sympathy.

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2...h-stealing-bus/

I think ANYONE using a mobile whilst driving is an idiot and is just as bad if not worse than a drink driver. They deserve to be treated as a pariah. Fines are no use. Licence revoked for a minimum of 12 months and a fine based on income. Until you do that idiots who think that business calls cannot wait should lose there jobs. Period.

Quite agree.

So not as serious a crime as the bus joyriders then? If the bus joyriders had killed someone they'd have got 10 years I guess, but the crime is the same even though they didn't kill anyone - intent wise and negligence wise. In my opinion that should have been a long period of imprisonment as it was just luck no one died.

What are the words I'm looking for? Ah yes, grasping at straws, that's it.

The lorry driver got 10 years because he killed several people, not because he was using his phone while driving. If he had crashed into a car and no one was hurt he would have got a fine, some points on his licence, possibly a few month's ban. If the joyriders killed someone they woulg have got a lengthy prison term.

The basic crimes are very different, the effects of the crimes were very different, the sentences were different - hardly surprising.

So someone who is 1mg over the limit is more dangerous than someone not looking at the road at all? This thread was also about mobile usage in cars. Not joyriders. Sorry newres I can see where u are coming from sometimes but not this. Ive lost family in car accidents. This is deadly serious.

Many, many people use a phone while driving.
Very few nick buses to joyride round the town.
The point is that the message has to be driven home (no pun intended) that usong a phone at the wheel is morally and socially unacceptable.
The sentence given out to the A34 miscreant also an attempt to bring this message home to all drivers.

The message given out is that if you kill people while using your phone you'll be imprisoned. That is obviously a rare event. Isn't it just 3 points for using a mobile phone? Hardly driving the message home is it?

I agree - the number of penalty points given out should be in the 3-11 range like drink or drug driving and the points should stay on your record for 11 years like those offences. That's the only way that you are going to see a real change in driver behaviour in my opinion.

https://www.gov.uk/penalty-points-endorseme...-penalty-points

In these days of Bluetooth connectivity it always strikes me as strange that anybody would need to handle their device while driving anyway.

To read and reply to posts on social media.

Talking on the phone is one thing, but for that I would lock them up and throw away the key. Crazy!

True. It's a bigger problem than many realise though.

Ah yes, social media, the panacea of the feeble.

Somewhat ironic, posting that statement on a discussion form.

True, however, I was thinking of idiot book and Twitter, not to mention insternoob! The true curse of the age.