General Chat

Thanks TS - not really nasty but enjoy playing the villain now and again. Cochyn is "redhead" or "ginga" in Welsh and man is Arthur Munby (1828-1910) a minor pre-Raphaelite poet who knew Ruskin and Rossettis well and married a g g g aunt :-D

Glad to see you have got the hang of managing your account John ;-)

Excellent thoughts, Sylvia, Scozz and Maggie.

That was what I was hoping for in this thread - some well-grounded and thoughtful views about what could become an important issue soon. Two weeks ago, I would have totally agrred with Scozz and Maggie.

I think I tend to agree with Sylvia now, and was a bit short with my daughter on Saturday when she phoned whilst driving on hands-free. Strangely she was maoevering round a Road Traffic Accident as she spoke to me saying things like - "someone lying still in road" and sounded extemely upset. Then there was a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

She phoned me again to say she had lost connection in a dip (probably in Yorkshire or Durham - some dips like Rockies there). So very relieved father.

A piece on telly this morning about mothers taking children to school - parking dangerously and using mobile phones whilst driving. And it looks like hands free now equals waving your phone about in one hand whilst you change gear with other.

So I think many other companies will change their policy in line with mine soon (they banned smoking in vehicles about 6 years ago). And laws will eventually underpin, and people on hands free will be fined £30 with 3 points, same as fine for waving your mobile phone round whilst driving now. :-)

Another good discussion would be using mobile phones in restaurants and public places. And what about using them on streets. If somebody walks towards me shouting "hello hello" on one of these infernal hands-free phones, I always irritatingly pretend I am old and simple and shout back to him or her "hello, hello" and stop for a chat. :-D ;-)

Neither OH nor I have a cell phone, and neither of us intend to get one


I do not understand this need to be in constant contact with everyone all the time.


Nothing is funnier ................... nor sadder .................. than seeing 2 people sitting at the same table, each talking on a cell, or walking hand-in-hand down the street, each with a cell held to the ear.


I sometimes think people can no longer talk to each face to face, but only through a phone


Everyone says how much busier life is these days, and they "have to be available" whenever anyone wants to get hold of them


b******t :-D


I'm positive that people achieve much less these days than their equivalent would have achieved 15 or 20 years ago, or 30 years ago it if comes to that.




Don't get me wrong ........ cell phones do have their use, for safety.

I would buy one to have in the car for when we go on drives. BUT, the plain fact is that coverage is not available on most roads outside the towns.

For example, we drive 700 km to our cabin. There is literally no coverage over about 450 km of that distance ..................... not many people living in those areas, so no incentive for the cell companies to build their towers


and, really, who would like to have towers in the middle of the Rockies?????




sooooooooooooo ..................



to answer your original question


your daughter is wrong, very wrong!


and your company is correct, and should be congratulated. And I hope that its employees, including you, obey the orders.



Just think on this ................... your wife could not have phoned you willy nilly 30+ years ago, nor would she or you have expected her to be able to do that.


and what use are you to her if she phones you, you answer, and have a crash because you are distracted???? A crash that kills you or some other unfortunate person.




sylvia

It's against the law in Australia to use a mobile phone while driving. But it doesn't stop the idiots!

I can't see anything wrong with using a handsfree phone ~ not much different to talking to a passenger.

As a non- driver - and therefore an eternal pedestrian, mobile phones should be banned!!
People walking along texting - and walking in to you, others on their phone - do they realise they're pacing across the pavement? You wait until they're one side, try to get by before they turn, they crash into you and look like it's YOUR fault!
They're not aware of what's going on around them. I was waiting to cross a busy road one day when some self-important tw*t walked into me with such force that they pushed me in to the traffic.
Obviously their text was sooo important - after all they were on their way home and had to tell someone, even though they left work at the same time every day.
These people probably think they are quite capable of walking and talking/texting at the same time, but the majority can't.
If they can't walk/talk/text on a mobile safely, what the hell makes them think they can talk on a mobile and drive?

It's NOT the same as listening to the radio. You can't hurt the feelings of a radio, if you misunderstand what the radio is 'saying' no harm is done. You don't have to concentrate or respond to the radio.

TS I hate molile phones and still have not learned to text. We have to have one at work and we have to have the number of our boss and number of our ICE (in case of emergency) on it. I am happy not to answer when I am driving if boss calls, but am not sure if my wife phones me (which is very rare at work) I should not answer.

But rules at work will be obeyed. At least until the time senior managers get annoyed because they can't contact key staff at key moments.

Everybody's view will be based on their own usage of a mobile phone and that varies immensely. When I was working full time it never stopped ringing and there were times I could have cheerfully have dropped it in a bucket of water. ( only joking) Now as a laid back pensioner I really don't need a mobile phone as it hardly ever rings but I keep it in case of emergencies as I'm sure lots of people do.

Janet No difference at all, I suspect. We grow up, and new generation make same mistakes. Not an hour goes by (and I drive very little now) that I don't see somebody driving with a mobile phone in hand or a fag in hand. Hoot at them and they wave back saying you are "Numero Uno". Think that's what they mean.

But would you be happy to be told you cannot use your hands free phone in your own car? Say your wife is expecting a baby and wants to tell you her waters have broken and she wants you to take her to hospital. Would you answer that call, or pull in and phone her back?

John, by your admission, what is the difference between the lunatics of 1983 and the lunatics of 2012. If a mobile phone was used in 1982 how would one drive holding a 'brick'. I'm pleased that no-one on here is trying to out do your apparent lack of driving skills. -jl

Not sure some have understood my question. Perhaps I made it badly.

Many years ago, a lot of us rushed round in cars as fast as they could doing all sorts of daft things. Ash trays were full, ciggies were thrown out of windows, speed limits were routinely broken, accidents per mile were very high.

Now roads are safer than they have ever been, according to Dept for Transport.

Now most people who were young then are much more careful. My only indiscretions this last year have been to occasionally forget to fasten my seat belt and a couple of times I have answered my hands free. And I eat sweets and take a sip of water now and again. Not a very good driver, but reasonably safe and pass all the car tests at work (assessed annually - practical and theory) and have driven probably about 1.2m miles over 49 years without major incident.

Most people probably have the same opinion as my daughter that you can speak on your mobile on hands free and it is safe. Managers at my company have been to some hard hitting seminars and have decided that nobody will answer a mobile unless stationery and safely parked up. Not doing that is now a disciplinary offence and will lead to dismissal.

Was asking whether company is right or my daughter is right. I think I agree with company's stance, but have not seen the presentation yet.

Robert When I first had a mobile back in about 1982, we all drove very differently. I was not joking at all. Probably over-egging a little bit. But I was young(ish) and had driven a lot of miles over about 15 years without major incident and that is the sort of thing I did.

I was certainly not alone. Many young men in those days used to drive like lunatics, and some still do. Particularly white van man and Cortina reps. 120mph on motorway, racing to be first to a venue, was quite commonplace. And if police stopped you, you apologised and usually got away with it.

Long time ago, and I doubt anybody that drove erratically in 1983 could be prosecuted now - or banned. And I feel exactly same as you. I have a company car limited to 70mph during the week and a Smart car for weekends that is just limited - period.

One thing I would say is that we were taught courtesy and defensive driving. I see youngsters (usually) today with no courtesy, smoking, eating, drinking whilst they drive along. And their driving can very very selfish and aggressive.

I always leave my phone switched off when driving-- I always have it with me as I have limited walking ability (arthritis) and feel safer knowing I can communicate easily if I have a problem- but there can be no need to receive live messages or chat when on the move. Anything significant can be left with a text message or voicemail - which you can check for when off the road in say a layby.

Robert - I think John was deliberately hyping up all possible distractions - i.e.. joking - I hope!

Sorry John i didnt come back!!

Shame you got caught .

Well since OH has stopped driving and my phone has clicked into the Fiestas link the phone has rung a couple of times. Told hubby to ignore and the rung back later when my phone was out the car.

it does seem silly to me tho for the car to have connection and not to be able to respond safely.

What I find annoying tho is when I see people STILL talking on their mobiles with it up to their ears and one hand on the steering wheel NOW that to me is dangerous driving

to quote John "I have always lived on the phone when I was driving. Am not sure how I would have coped without a sandwich in left hand, mobile in right and knees steering at 90mph on motorway to get to an important meeting with 10 minutes to gain on the sat nav."

I would ban you from driving for life. i have a brother and a cusion who work for the 999 sevices. go to you local police station and sk to photos of RTA involving people who use moble phones while there were driving. or go with a policeman when he has to go and tell someone that a loveone is dead

there are other words i would like to call you john , but causing offence to you dosent bother me, but offending other dose, but weeing and fire comes to mind

Oh and forgot - employer banning people from using phones is right as it is illegal to use a phone when driving - even if the police rarely do anything about it unless an accident occurs..

I get really angry watching people driving with the phone in one hand....

My answer to this problem is not to have the phone switched on when I am driving - nothing is that important. At home if I have to make a call I use my landline. In fact this is the only number I will ever give out.

We survived for donkeys years without instant access to one and other, queueing up to use a public telepone if we did not have one at home. Or waiting by a public telephone for a call which had been arranged for a specific time.

I am at a loss as to what people are constantly talking about. And at 4am in the morning on their way either to and from work - who on earth are they chatting to at that time???

I have lost count of the number of pedestrians who have just walked out in front of me when I am driving because they are too interested in what they are texting etc.

When driving I leave my mobile turned off!

Why do people have to have instant access?

My mobile phone is just a basic send/receive calls: no internet or any other bells and whistles.

Given your daughter's logic in the first posting and your logic about arriving at an important meeting I would say that the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.-jl

At work now, we cannot even answer calls on hands free. You could be disciplined for answering a call whilst driving, Badger. The caller has to leave message and call is returned when driver stops - which could be up to 2 hours later.

Can imagine all the arguments when the mangers attended this safety seminar. And be interesting to see if it affects the business - because even salesmen are included and contracts could be lost if on road. Even our "next of kin" number is included. And I don't think I could ignore a call from the big boss (ie my OH) :-D