On a trip into town yesterday I noticed a Gendarmerie car coming towards me. I was then speechless when I noticed that the gendarme driving was holding a mobile 'phone to his left (i.e most noticeable) ear & holding an animated conversation. This was in a busy built up area.
As I consider anyone who uses a 'phone at the wheel to be worthy of a lifetime driving ban I’m now entering a spiral of depression & anger that those who are supposed to enforce the ban of this dangerous practice are not bothering to police themselves.
I think few people understand how much of their attention is taken up by a conversation (you have only to watch someone walking and speaking to realise they’re in their own little world), so I agree it’s a serious matter.
I imagine what you saw reinforces what I imagine is your natural habit of defensive driving.
After all, “No one in this world has ever lost out by underestimating the intelligence of other drivers” (to paraphrase HL Mencken)!
Well, exactly. I never would never initiate a (hands free) call whilst driving & I rarely take them for that very reason.
I’m sure most drivers will be aware of the feeling that they didn’t know how they got somewhere due to being distracted by either a 'phone call or, often, the verbiage of a passenger.
I’m sure they have hands free capability in their patrol cars. Anyway, he wasn’t in a hurry - it looked more like he was calling the station to put the kettle on.
Like the time I was stopped one Sunday afternoon and asked by a gendarme if I’d been drinking at lunchtime and as he leant through my car window breathed alcohol fumes all over me.
I have been stopped once for a random breath test, just after 11h30 on a Saturday evening. Negative, of course
But they made me do the test twice as they were very reluctant to believe that anyone could have been out for a Saturday evening without consuming alcohol. As I drove away, I could see the three of them in deep conversation, shaking their heads…
Very true. Unfortunately, distracting conversation includes those held on ‘hands free’ telephones. As much as some may consider they are well able to drive while simultaneously concentrating on verbal replies to a disembodied voice the fact is that attention should be 100% on the road while driving.
That most manage to multitask much of the time will not matter in the unfortunate split second event when a child/dog/wheelchair user/boar suddenly runs out in front of their car while they’re discussing with her/him indoors which bread to buy where.
We used to manage without constantly being connected to our portable phones. Doesn’t hurt to let it ring. They’ll leave a message. Unless you’re a neurosurgeon with a patient in ER.
Two radio is permitted by mobile phone legislation in the UK and, presumably, in France.
two-way radio” means any wireless telegraphy apparatus which is designed or adapted—
(i)for the purpose of transmitting and receiving spoken messages; and
(ii)to operate on any frequency other than 880 MHz to 915 MHz, 925 MHz to 960 MHz, 1710 MHz to 1785 MHz, 1805 MHz to 1880 MHz, 1900 MHz to 1980 MHz or 2110 MHz to 2170 MHz; and
Edit: the frequencies quoted are those used by mobile phones.
On his hands free kit presumably? As you keep telling us, it may be legal for him to take a call, but I’m not sure I want to live in a world where we excuse authorities y figures from being effing idiots because unlike the rest of us plebs they couldn’t ensure that every time they set off in a car they had a working hands free kit to take calls in a safe and responsible way without endangering the lives of those around them. If his hands free was broken or missing he could / should have a backup, they’re not expensive. Then whether it’s ’put the kettle on’ or an actual emergency he’s doing it in a safe responsible way, or the next emergency call while driving that someone makes maybe to his loved ones, or those of other drivers.
How do you know it wasn’t a modern two-way radio handset?
The TETRA emergency services handsets like the Met’s Airwave system look a lot like smart phones if you don’t clock the antenna because it’s a small piece of black against a dark background or headed by the copper’s head.
For me it was Zopiclone, prescribed by my doctor for insomnia. Leaving my house for a 30 minute drive to work and arriving with absolutely no memory of how I got there was very scary. I only took one tablet, no more and threw the rest away.
Absolutely. I couldn’t agree more.
When driving, either turn the phone off or just ignore it. If the caller wants to speak to you about something which is truly urgent, then they will leave a message or send a text. So if the phone starts buzzing / beeping with text messages, find a lay-by, stop the car, get out of the driver’s seat, and then sort out the phone.
This suggests that the law only applies of the vehicle is moving:
"Article R.412-6-1 du code de la route :
L’usage d’un téléphone tenu en main par le conducteur d’un véhicule en circulation est interdit. Est également interdit le port à l’oreille, par le conducteur d’un véhicule en circulation, de tout dispositif susceptible d’émettre du son, à l’exception des appareils électroniques correcteurs de surdité."
But it doesn’t say anything about driving vehicles that aren’t Seats
The problem is that if you are sitting in the driver’s seat you are in a position to have control over the movement of the vehicle and so you are still “driving” as defined in law. Basically it matters not that the engine isn’t running, that the vehicle is stationary, or that the handbrake is applied. If you are sitting in the driving seat, are in possession of the keys (or the new generation substitute), and are on a road (and lay-bys are part of the road), then you are driving.
As an illustrative example : The car is stopped on a hill with the handbrake applied at a red traffic light. The light turns green and and as the driver attempts to move off, the engine stalls because the handbrake is still applied. So the vehicle is now stationary, the handbrake is applied, and the engine is not running. The person sitting behind the steering wheel is without doubt still ‘driving’.
So if you want to use a hand held phone it’s best to get out of the car, or sit in the back seat, so that no officious gendarme can say that you are using the phone while ‘driving’.
