UK: to ban changing radio stations while driving, drivers would face 2 year prison

[KeithPA]

That country is continues to get more and more fucked up.

I would if simply thinking about something other than the road could get you arrested.

Motorists who use a hand-held mobile phone or fiddle with a sat-nav could be jailed for two years under new rules being issued by the Crown Prosecution Service today.

Charges will be brought wherever prosecutors say using equipment - including devices such as the iPod - poses a danger.

Prosecutors say such actions could force a car to swerve or a distracted motorist jumping a red light.

Those who kill while using a mobile face 14 years behind bars, under a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

In extreme cases they could be charged with manslaughter for which a life term can be imposed.

A new offence of causing death by careless driving is to be created under the Road Safety Act.

The crackdown was announced earlier this year but the guidelines will apply to prosecutors from today. It comes as the latest Government figures show that up to 300,000 drivers are still driving illegally with hand-held mobile phones.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has updated its sentencing manual for dangerous driving. It now states that drivers convicted of dangerous driving risk two years' imprisonment, a fine, or both - as well as a mandatory driving disqualification.

The CPS manual says: 'Usually a custodial penalty is appropriate, especially where a number of aggravating factors combine.'

Among those aggravating factors it lists: 'Driving while the drivers' attention is avoidably distracted, for example by reading or by use of a mobile phone (especially if hand-held).'

Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving was made illegal in December 2003.

Section 26 of the Road Safety Act 2006 increased the fixed penalty for drivers using a hand held phone or similar device from 27 February 2007 - the penalty rose from £30 to £60 and three penalty points.

Drivers can also be prosecuted for failing to have proper control of a vehicle - such as being distracted by using a hands-free mobile phones.

The current offence of careless driving, used to punish people who drive unsafely by using a mobile or popular equipment such as a satellite-navigation system, carries only a £2,500 fine or community order.

But the new CPS rules give the authorities an even wider catch-all power.

Ken Macdonald QC, director of public prosecutions, said: 'There is widespread public concern about the use of mobile phones and other hand-held electronic equipment while driving.

'In cases where there is clear evidence that danger has been caused by their use - such as texting while driving - then our policy should spell out that the starting point for charging will be dangerous driving.'

More than 300,000 drivers a day are still illegally using hand-held phones at the wheel - despite an earlier toughening of the law, latest Government figures revealed in December.

The manual also lists driving when knowingly deprived of sleep, and driving a poorly maintained or dangerously loaded vehicle.'

Road safety campaigners say many drivers still flout the law, sometimes with fatal consequences. Trinity Taylor, 23, from Aldershot, died in 2005 after lorry driver John Payne ran into her car on the M3 in Basingstoke while using his mobile. Payne, 31, of Chesham, was jailed for four years.

But Edmund King, of the RAC Foundation, said existing punishments should be properly enforced - rather than a two-year jail term introduced now.

The trade journal Fleet News, aimed at the bosses of company car fleets said;'This clearly spells out that in the eyes of the law even using a Bluetooth hands-free phone while driving can led to a charge of dangerous driving.'

Today one of Britain's biggest companies is to ban all of its staff from using hands-free mobile phones when driving.

Transport giant First Group accepts research which suggests that the distraction danger from hands' free phones is just as dangerous as using a hand-held phone while driving.

The ban on making or taking calls - to be announced today (THURS) - applies from the chief executive down to the humblest company car or delivery driver and will come into effect from January.

Tests have also shown the reactions of a driver on a mobile phone to be 'worse than a drink-driver'

As a result the FTSE 100 firm - which runs a range of train and bus companies in the UK and US - has banned its 135,000 staff worldwide. including 35,000 in the UK.

Disciplinary action will be taken against employees who ignore the new rule.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770


Danger: Fiddling with your sat-nav at the wheel could lead to a prison sentence

[Pyrotek85]

Yea that seems a bit too steep. I just found another UK-related article posted on Fark.com as well, which is even more disturbing I think.



http://www.rugbytoday.co.uk/news/Bur...-to.3608104.jp

Burglary victim told not to put up security 'in case it injures criminals'

A CHURCH Lawford woman recovering from a multi-thousand pound raid claims she was refused permission by police to install tighter security measures - in case it injured returning thieves.


As reported last week, the woman had antiques and personal items worth 'thousands' stolen from her home last month while she tended to her cancer-ridden brother.

Rugby Police investigated and gave the woman a crime-fighting manual advising on upgrading security.

However, when she enquired about installing a new security fence at her home, she was informed occupier liability rules meant she risked investigation herself if trespassers hurt themselves climbing over it.

The woman, who has asked to remain anonymous, said: "If I have got to live behind locked doors for the rest of my life, I hope the rest of my life isn't very long. But why would I want my house safe for these people? It's crazy."

Offenders raided the woman's house after smashing through a security gate several feet high and breaking through windows.

As well as valuable antiques, they also
took wedding rings belonging to the woman and her now deceased-parents.

Police investigated and gave the divorcee a copy of Warwickshire Police's 'Operation Impact' manual, giving victims information on crime-fighting techniques and activities.

The woman later asked if she could install a new gate, complete with barbed wire or carpet gripper, to prevent further thieves climbing over.
However, the guide says she could risk prosecution herself if the trespassers hurt themselves on the beefed-up gate.

She said: "I respect that if the postman or the gas man calls, they don't expect to hurt himself. But I was speechless - you couldn't make it up. I think these laws show we have gone soft in the head."

Police advised the woman to fit alarms and are continuing investigations.

Adequate home security advice for homeowners is available from Rugby Police Station in Newbold Road.

[LorDiego01]

ummm.....

WOW

I think these people are oppressed...

and they seem to like it.

[P89]

I'm going home and erasing the UK off my globe.

[vic2367]

incredible...only in europe/uk

[knight0334]

About time...

If they would have done that 10 years ago here in the USA I wouldn't be missing a friend, her 5 yo daughter and 6 month old infant.

Eyes one the road and hands on the wheel/shifter.... not the radio, not the cellphone, not navigation thingamabob.

[Pyrotek85]

About time...

If they would have done that 10 years ago here in the USA I wouldn't be missing a friend, her 5 yo daughter and 6 month old infant.

Eyes one the road and hands on the wheel/shifter.... not the radio, not the cellphone, not navigation thingamabob.

I do agree people should pay attention to the road, but I think they're taking it too far. Glancing down for a half second to put your hand on the tuning knob of the radio is different than having a cell phone glued to your ear.

Personally, I avoid answering my cell phone when I'm driving, and if I must do something of that nature I wait until the car stops moving. I'm not going to risk someone's life because I might miss a call.

[Duck]

About time...

If they would have done that 10 years ago here in the USA I wouldn't be missing a friend, her 5 yo daughter and 6 month old infant.

Eyes one the road and hands on the wheel/shifter.... not the radio, not the cellphone, not navigation thingamabob.

I'm sorry about your friend, but a) having a law against it isn't going to bring them back and b) even if it was outlawed, there would still be accidents on the road due to any number of causes and you can't go outlawing every single one of them since some are caused by nature. If the gov't is going to do that, then they just need to outlaw any kind of motor vehicle then.

Sorry, but talking on the phone doesn't warrant a two yr sentence when some murderers and drug dealers get less than that.

[knight0334]

I agree with you some.. two years just for talking on the phone or messing with such "toys" is a lil harsh..

..but the penalty for any accident due to driver playing with such things should be eye-for-eye.

You jump a sidewalk because your were putting a CD in and wipe out a woman and her two kids - you should be tied to a pole and have a Chevy Caprice smash into you at 45mph, repeated if necessary until you are dead. Since you can only died once, an appropriate torture should be applied to equal the deaths of the others - then you get tied up.

Side swipe another car - your car should be seized and used at the county fairgrounds for a ramp when the monster trucks come around. And you cant own another vehicle for 6-12 months.

Hit someone and just injure them because you thought that current song sucked and you needed to change the station - you suffer the same fate until your injuries match or exceed those of your victim.

On top of all that, you are still financially liable for all damages.

[P89]