Rolyan wrote:I'm just trying to understand how someone thinks that the principle of the driver being able to make safe decisions (and therefore laws are not required) applies to mobiles but not to other road issues.
To be honest I think there is some confusion here...
No one is saying that there should be more discretion in making decisions over safety with mobile phones than other areas such as speed / white lines /u-turns etc.
All that is being said is that the law sets down some markers as to what is legal and what is not.
Within what is legal the driver must still make safety decisions...
So on the matter of phones - it is 100% legal to make a phone call / receive a phone call / speak on the phone - as long as it is not operated as a hand-held device.
Within that legal position there is still an opportunity (and arguably a requirement) for the driver to further make a choice on safety...
Perhaps you are coming from the perspective that all use of a phone should be illegal and therefore no choice should be given to the driver - however that is not the law, or the decision of the law makers.
So your statement I have quoted is totally wrong because that is not the point being made.
The point is simple:
1 - start with an understanding of the legal framework
2 - comply with the law
3 - within that compliance / legal action - make further choices of judgement as a driver based on safety...
the same applies to speed (plenty of illustrations above, but to fit these points):
1 - the law says drive at a speed below the posted limit - the limit past the school in my village is 30mph
2 - so drive under 30mph
3 - within that compliance I may choose as I did 30 minutes ago as I passed and the children were playing out in their lunch break - to voluntarily choose on the grounds of safety to actually drive at c. 15mph
phones:
1 - the law says no to hand held and yes to hands free
2 - on my journey back from Hertfordshire this morning my phone was plugged into and connected via bluetooth to the car system
3 - when a phone call came in I made a judgement based on safety as to whether I would take the call and how I would conduct the call - I was on the motorway in light traffic on a dry and clear day - I took the call and told the caller my eta back in the office and said I would speak later
So in both scenarios the driver starts by understanding and complying with the law and then within the framework of the law makes a decision based on safety which may or may not alter their actions... for the speed example - had it been a day in the summer holiday with no children at school I might not have chosen so substantial a slow down and continued at a safe speed of c. 25-27mph - still within the law, but a different choice. With the phone, had it been night time / busy traffic / raining / or had I been tired, I might have chosen to not take the call.
Within the law the driver still makes choices over safety.
No-one is saying that no law should apply to phone use - the law is already there and exists - we are debating how a resonsible driver chooses to act within that legal framework.
Alasdair