New Driving Regulations In France From July 1, 2015 (1 Viewer)

[tonyidle]

Frankly most of it is nonsense. It's hard to present any argument that would allow any use of a phone when driving if such use involved looking at or handling the phone but there are many much more dangerous distractions than talking hands free that no-one would consider making illegal. Like child or in some cases adult passengers. Laws against loud music are unenforceable except at low speed in an urban environment. I know many drivers who I would trust to do any of the above whilst remaining safe. And I know many others who are unsafe simply driving with no distractions.

 

[Bobby22]

Now..........is this why, as funsters tell us, " the roads in france are empty?

 

[Barclaybasher]

The use of phones in vehicles should be banned completely
We have all done it
Can you remember the road or anything about driving while on the phone?
No
Most phone calls are not important but answering one could kill someone.. And it might even be you or your family
Until it is banned completely we will still do it

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[mjltigger]

The use of phones in vehicles should be banned completely
We have all done it
Can you remember the road or anything about driving while on the phone?

yes of course. the road is my number one focus, the conversation is my number 2 focus. When I am in the office I generally am juggling simultaneous calls, emails and people visiting in person and will still hear if a staff member across the room says something they shouldn't to a customer.. it is not hard to learn to concentrate intently on everything around you..

I admit not everyone can do it and some people will think they can when they can't but then they will be driving without due care and attention or whatever.. it doesn't need a nanny state law that penalises those of us who can and do make safe use of the technology available

 

[Barclaybasher]

Sitting in the office is not the same as driving a 3 ton vehicle at 70mph

 

[gus-lopez]

so I have to pull in to eat a sandwich?.....the audacity! the effrontery! what is the world coming to....what about my human rights! next it will be cctv in the cab monitoring you

Pasty is ok

I would agree with all of this.

Where do we draw the line between talking (or god forbid arguing) with the wife and talking on the phone ?
Why is hands free through the radio speakers an acceptable method and using a one ear speaker is not?
I cannot understand why the French think its an issue when the UK government is quite happy with it.

I would argue that we are all guilty of being on auto pilot at times, especially on motorways and a conversation even on the phone will re-focus your mind.

No difference between the two.
Because you can still here the surrounding disaster unfolding, whereas with one ear blocked you'll miss something vital.
They need the money.
Yes we are but whether a call would re-focus or focus only on the call is another question.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Paddywack]

Most sensible to apply the headphone law to cyclists. How many neanderthal cyclists have you seen wearing headphones completely oblivious to traffic ???? I have seen hundreds.

Interesting one this. When wearing a helmet, which I normally do, I cannot hear traffic approaching from behind, the wind / air speed drowns out any noise when above 15mph - lower if cycling into a headwind. I don't normally use headphones but I have occasionally and it makes no difference to my awareness of traffic.

Indeed one of the reasons that I put off always wearing a helmet is how it takes away your awareness of traffic coming from behind.

 

[yodeli]

it is not hard to learn to concentrate intently on everything around you..

You obviously never had someone like MY Mum on the phone!....you can't concentrate !!!If I don't want to die , I better not answer! BUT.... the main problem is when I have my ear plug on, I don't look at my phone , I'm watching the road , therefore I answer.... and get trapped . Then I just try to stop the conversation as fast as I can .

Why do I have my ear plug in the first place I bet you'll ask.
Firstly I'm on duty at all times (up to 10.00pm)
Secondly, I'm very very often driving on my own or with babies. I set up the emergency number and this way I know if anything happens I just double click my ear plug and will get help quicker.
I think I'm now going to use my sat nav and Bluetooth and see how things can be worked out!

Amicalement

Frankie

 

[2Aussies]

What, no sandwiches...let them eat cake!!!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Caerus]

Once saw a police officer toss his mobile phone he was using onto the passenger seat and brake HARD for a car in front that had stopped on a zebra to allow a woman with a pushchair to cross. Thought I was about to witness something horrific. Seen plenty of misuse since. Prime example is people travelling slowly in the middle lane, usually texting and oblivious to traffic travelling faster on their near side. Must take another tablet! Oh when will cars and phones be fitted with inhibitors that mean you have to stop and get out?

 

[Puddleduck]

Is listening through an ear piece more distracting than listening through the radio speakers?

Probably not but with ear piece in you can't hear noises from outside the car. I don't have the radio on either as a rule - prefer not to have any distractions.

With a passenger you can tell them to shut up when you need to concentrate - most can read the road anyway and do keep quiet when required.

If its so important, leave a recorded message saying you are driving at the moment and will contact them later. Safe, sensible, simple.

That's what I have.

"Sorry I am unable to take your call at the moment. I may be driving or otherwise unable to speak with you. Please leave a message and I will call you back when it is legal and safe for me to do so."

 

[nelly]

We had an instruction that anyone caught using a mobile phone in a Thames Water van would be sacked no ifs or buts hands free or not

Neil

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[maison]

And yet solo Police Officers have to listen to and answer their radios whilst driving. Double crewed vehicles means that the passenger can handle comms. Not possible solo.

 

[Old Soldier]

I turn my hearing aids off so that I don't have to listen to my wife trying to compete with Sally Satnav.....Is that legal?

 

[Billy23]

When I am driving, I answer the phone while going round corners, on a motorway, in town with no problem whatsoever, as I have a special phone answering device.............my wife

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

My boss answers when driving.....kerbs, footpaths, oncoming traffic.....nothing holds any fear for me anymore.

Worst moments are when he's rabbitting on the phone and has to change gear.
Gearstick in left hand, phone in right hand...and hopes the van can steer itself, even in bends.

And he has been stopped and fined but he doesnt seem to care....but he is a terrible driver at any time.
I often think driving and breathing at the same time is beyond his ability.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

The use of a radio in my van is simply addressed, The previous owner took out the Ford Radio(fine bit of simple equipment by Sony) and replaced it with one that to this day I cannot use because the buttons are sensor points and the lettering so small I cannot read them except with a magnifying glass. Answer NEVER turn the damn thing on. NEVER Heard it properly at all.

 

[Cavs]

I'm intrigued that it's apparently illegal to do something that "will interfere with hearing normal road noises". Is it impossible for a deaf person to get a driving licence in France?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[ebikejohn]

The mobile phone thing certainly gets things going, the lid is off the box and they are here to stay whether you like it or not, some people exercise care when using them and some do not.

I spend a lot of time behind the wheel, mostly driving white vans and I am often bemused as I sit behind slow, meandering cars where the driver spends an inordinate amount of time with his or her head at 90 degrees to the road in front of them, it as though they cannot conduct a conversation with their passenger without turning to face them. Then there is the harassed mum or dad with a screaming brat sat in the back of the car.

I remember seeing a driver throw both his hands in the air and shaking them in a triumphant salute as an Arsenal player rifled a winning shot past a Chelsea goalkeeper once (it was a few years ago), we were both (obviously) listening to Radio Five whilst humming down the inside lane of the M6 at a generous 70mph on a quiet Sunday afternoon (I've already said it was a few years ago). I was pleased as well but not pleased enough to do that.

I often wonder about the kind of driver who is merrily driving along for mile after mile with their door mirrors folded in, you often see them on dual carriageways or in the middle lane of a motorway (how the hell did they get out there), I am not suggesting that it is always all right to use a mobile phone whilst driving but fellow passengers (especially screaming kids), listening to the radio and all sorts of other stuff are right up there with phones, not to mention the young woman I once saw at the side of the road just outside Rome wearing an outfit that even Cher (sorry don't know the names of any more contemporary vamps) would have described as far too revealing.

I remember reading a letter to the editor of our local newspaper a few years ago about a chap who was apparently aghast to have seen 9 drivers talking on their mobile phones during his 17 mile drive into Hereford, I was similarly aghast that he had been staring through car windscreens instead of looking where he was going.

 

[Meki]

There is never a valid reason to be on the phone whilst driving, if your business can't survive without you being in contact 24/7 you're running your business badly.

A couple of days ago I witnessed a 4 x 4 run into the back of another car, the road was clear, the weather bright and sunny, within a 50mph limit, both cars were at or near the limit, the car in front slowed down for a bend the 4 x 4 following didn't, he was on the phone.

In all my years repping and running my own companies I have never once had a compliant about missing a call.

Phones should be on silence and hidden from view.

 

[Odd job]

As this is my normal hands free method and now illegal. What do you do?

I got a bluetooth hands free CD Radio with usb and aux ports fitted for under £150. now I can choose my music and answer the phone with no problems

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[vwalan]

My boss answers when driving.....kerbs, footpaths, oncoming traffic.....nothing holds any fear for me anymore.

Worst moments are when he's rabbitting on the phone and has to change gear.
Gearstick in left hand, phone in right hand...and hopes the van can steer itself, even in bends.

And he has been stopped and fined but he doesnt seem to care....but he is a terrible driver at any time.
I often think driving and breathing at the same time is beyond his ability.

hey pappa does he read things on this forum. ?
why are you at home?

 

[rrusty]

And yet solo Police Officers have to listen to and answer their radios whilst driving. Double crewed vehicles means that the passenger can handle comms. Not possible solo.

I asked my son that question and he said we are trained to do that - you are not!!

 

[maison]

I asked my son that question and he said we are trained to do that - you are not!!

Sorry!

That sounds quite arrogant on his part. Does that suggest that it is OK for him to answer his phone when in his private car because "he has been trained.

I was also "trained" as an emergency response driver but wouldn't have given such an answer, unless very tongue in cheek.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[ebikejohn]

There is never a valid reason to be on the phone whilst driving, if your business can't survive without you being in contact 24/7 you're running your business badly.

Pretty sweeping statement that one, I don't know whether you have any experience of running a one man business recently but times have changed, for many small businesses it is imperative to be in touch all of the time.

The Internet and instant communications have changed everything, for many small businesses who cannot afford to staff offices etc there is no option but to be able to answer the phone - voicemail is not the solution, most enquirers simply hang up and move onto the next company listed on Google - when my business occasionally has to switch to voicemail we see our enquiries tumble.

The biggest contract my company (a one man band in those days) ever won was taken when I answered the phone on the Autoroute on a Saturday afternoon on my way back from an event in Cannes, that one contract was enough to grow our business to the stage where we do have the phones covered 24/7.

A few months ago I too witnessed an accident, I was following a young woman driving a VW Golf at a moderate speed, she started to turn into a sharp right hand bend, got it all wrong and somehow managed to get her two near side wheels perched on top of a thickish winter edge, I had to gingerly open the drivers door and wedge it into the tarmac to stop the car tipping over as I got her out, when this tearful young woman emerged it was immediately apparent that she was very pregnant, fortunately for me because I usually run like hell at the sight of a woman crying a middle aged lady arrived and ushered her into her car before asking me to return to the VW Golf to retrieve a handbag with a phone it in order to enable her to contact her husband, I got it, she turned the phone on and rang him and I won't bore you any more, there was a happy ending.

Thing is - she wasn't using a mobile phone, she just got it wrong, was it the phone call that caused your 4x4 driver to crash - you don't actually know, he may have crashed anyway.

We've all seen the crazy idiot juggling with a phone to their ear as they drive along or the nutter sending texts whilst they weave along the road, huge numbers of drivers use phones whilst they are driving, the vast majority do so sensibly and most of us don't even know that they are on the phone.

It's rather like lowering the drink drive limit, does anybody really believe that lowering the limit will stop the maniac who has a skinful and jumps behind the wheel from continuing to do so.

 

[sdc77]

Sorry!

That sounds quite arrogant on his part. Does that suggest that it is OK for him to answer his phone when in his private car because "he has been trained.

I was also "trained" as an emergency response driver but wouldn't have given such an answer, unless very tongue in cheek.

Are we talking about france here or the UK?
In the UK most police cars are fitted with hands free radio comms.
(Radios are not part of the law that prohibits mobile phones but airwave radios are mobile phones and therefore require hands free facilities). Police provide no training for people to drive and use radios so I'd imagine the answer was tongue in cheek.

 

[mowbotman]

If you are on holiday, in France, I would guess that most people would have a passenger , if it's that important get them to answer it ! I have been in reps cars whilst they are on the phone, when he came off the phone, he says he missed 3 turns where he should have turned off, says it all !! They are very dangerous and should be banned full stop in all moving vehicles, if you had an accident and injured someone or even killed them,you would never forgive yourself, when I call our staff,around 30 of them with mobiles, if they are driving, I just say call me back when you have stopped and hang up, I would not want to be talking to one have them, and he as an accident whilst I was on the phone with them !!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[The Old Man]

so I have to pull in to eat a sandwich?.....the audacity! the effrontery! what is the world coming to....what about my human rights! next it will be cctv in the cab monitoring you

It is one law in this country that bugs me only because it is considered acceptable to get a cigarette out, light it, smoke it using one hand, the same and maybe more so with a pipe or cigar. Mind opening the sandwich packet is challenging.

 

[G7UXG]

I asked my son that question and he said we are trained to do that - you are not!!

The answer's more simple than that. They're exempt. Not just the police. Might apply to others too, such as radio hams. Check out the list of frequencies at the bottom of the web page below.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/2695/regulation/2/made

Love it or hate it, that's what our democratically elected legislators decided to do.

 

[FJmike]

What I'm wondering is will they apply the new law to the riders of the Tour De France as they all have ear pieces and some have two way radio

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}