In Norwich, England, police are used to folks talking on cellphones while driving. However, they were not prepared for David Secker, 34, who allegedly was steering with his knees while talking on one cellphone and texting on a second cellphone.
What I particularly like about this story is that police say Secker told them to wait while he finished his call.
The unemployed man also was found to be driving without insurance — a bad omission when one insists on using two cellphones.
His lawyer insists however that he was merely reading a number from the second phone and not texting.
He has now been banned from driving . . . for 12 months. That’s right, he will be back on a road in less than a year.
In my own neighborhood, various families have tried to get a woman who drives a large SUV to stop speeding down our street. The woman who lives a block away and is constantly driving with her cellphone to her ear. I have actually only once seen her drive without being on the cellphone. That was two days ago when I saw her inspecting her nails while driving without any hands on the wheel down our street. Parents are terrified that she will hit one of the many kids in the street and, when they have confronted her, she has yelled at them and the children. It is bizarre. The neighbors went as far as contacting the McLean police department but were told that there was nothing they could do. Parents have complained that the woman (who has older kids) now guns her Lexus SUV and speeds up when they are outside with their children. Despite all of the laws on the books, there appears little that can be done unless (and until) the woman runs over a child — a terrifying prospect.
Source: BBC
hahahaha! on the fake potholes….great idea, except on a busy multi-lane road I would think swerving out of a lane mayt be a side effect…
I have to agree with Mike Spindell.
As to the speeder:
Halloween is coming …
As to the guy in England:
My god, a man who can multi-task!
Bette Noir
1, August 16, 2011 at 10:01 am
Using a cell phone while driving is illegal on the West Coast. You’ll catch up.
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That was great!
speed calming devices are hell on snowplows.
Woosty sez: “and while you are waiting the 10 years or so for that particular beaurocracy to unfold….”
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I don’t know what the local laws are, so I don’t know what applies, but I am certain the good Professor and other lawyers who live in the neighborhood are familiar with a quaint document called a Writ of Mandamus. It might or might not be appropriate in that jurisdiction, but there are legal ways to get the city street department to “fix” the problem. Perhaps a fake pothole will do the trick.
http://supercardigest.com/uncategorized/fake-pot-holes/
Just say “No” to speed calming devices. They are really bad for low-to-the-ground vehicles. If anything, just slash her tires. That’s what I would do to my neighbor if they did that. The last guy that drove up and down a straight like that got sprayed with the hose when I was washing my car. Fuck that guy.
“Have you considered getting the city to install “speed calming devices.” That is what our town has done in several residential neighborhoods where there has been chronic speeding. “Speed calming devices” are different from the traditional speed bumps. “~Otteray Scribe
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and while you are waiting the 10 years or so for that particular beaurocracy to unfold….how about a cardboard pooch at the end of her driveway, maybe she needs a visual hint….
Using a cell phone while driving is illegal on the West Coast. You’ll catch up.
First, with two cellphones, no job, no insurance — losing his license for a year will not deter the dunce from driving so residents of his town should be forewarned.
As to the woman speeder — some brave citizens should throw down a “stop strip” (which I assume is made of nails) when they see the car coming. Perhaps your local police will rent one to you! If not, lumber thrown on the highway, hoses aimed at the car, a box of tacks carefully tossed, a jug of molasses — apparently you nice people are not as devious as I am!
I believe that addiction to Cell Phones and Blackberries are equal to addiction to Meth. One’s quality of life suffers and eventually some people will get killed, either the user or the bystander. This doesn’t even take into account possible brain cancer.
Have you thought about installing various traffic control devices such as vehicles as far away from the curb as possible without violating the law….or have a friend that works for the fire department….just show up…or better yet…if she has committed a misdemeanor make a citizens arrest….of course you want an off duty officer to make that call…She sounds like an accident waiting to happen….
Now to the story…if he was looking at a second cell…it is very possible that he was looking for a number…Just ping his cell record and you’ll find out exactly what he was doing….that is the advantage of driving a truck….visual proof is not visible except by another truck or semi…. ah shucks…
I’d say the neighbors need to get together and take direct enough action that the local news shows up and makes a spectacle of her.
As to the knee steering dude…he should also have been banned from using cell phones for a year – it might give him some perspective.
Traffic circles are hot right now too. The things are a pin in the ass but I guess it is part of the price we pay to live in a world where morons are allowed to breed.
Have you considered getting the city to install “speed calming devices.” That is what our town has done in several residential neighborhoods where there has been chronic speeding. “Speed calming devices” are different from the traditional speed bumps. They are raised like speed bumps but are about three feet wide. Hit a speed bump and you get a jolt and might blow out a tire. Also, speed bumps are hard on shock absorbers. Speed calming devices are easy to go over slowly, but hit one going twenty-five miles an hour and you will be wearing your sun roof like a horse collar. If you don’t have a sun roof, your head may make one.
The main complaint heard about them from motorist organizations is that it might slow emergency responders, but my observation here is that if it does slow them, it is a matter of a few seconds, not minutes.