Drivers who use mobile phones behind wheel are a menace

Recently someone turned into a one-way street and pointed his car straight at me.
A smart phone. Photo: Daniel Law/PA WireA smart phone. Photo: Daniel Law/PA Wire
A smart phone. Photo: Daniel Law/PA Wire

Two nights earlier, another hapless motorist simply pulled out of a side street without even looking what peril surrounded him.

The other weekend another idiot behind the wheel, this time of all things in a white van, jumped out of a lane of stationary slip road traffic and in front of me, leaving me to recourse to some hard braking and straight swearing.

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And, later the same day, another straddled both lanes of the local motorway for nearly two miles, oblivious to all other road users.

Drunk drivers? No.

Young people seemingly without a care in the world? No.

Criminals fleeing the scene of a crime? Apparently not.

No what these idiots, these reckless road users all had in common was quite simple.

They were all chatting away on their mobile phones while driving.

The white van man even had his mobile number on his van. I should have asked my passenger to call him, but his only reply would have been an engaged tone!

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This week we hear of a prosecution resulting in fines and court costs of over £400 for someone throwing a cigarette end out of a car.

In Pendle the council prosecutes vigorously those who do not clean up after their pets.

Speeding motorists are also dealt with appropriately throughout the area.

But most driving-while-nattering-away offences are dealt with by way of a fixed penalty notice at the roadside with accompanying fine and penalty points.

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And because of that they stay out of the public eye as we don’t get the chance to report on them.

I can remember the ban coming in seven years ago – yes seven years ago – and for a few short months the situation seemed to improve.

But if the antics I have witnessed in the last week or so are anything to go by, it is now almost as bad as it ever was.

And it is the older generation of motorists, the drivers who were on the road before the ban came into force, who are the worst culprits.

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