Reporting mobile use while driving

[MarkyMark292]

I contacted my local police service and asked if they had a communication line setup for users in Cheshire to report mobile usage in moving vehicles. Alas, they said they do not, but thought it a great idea and asked how current schemes are setup. Today I found the link to the Met Police site, so I will send that to them and let's hope they do something so we can start naming people as offenders. I want to get myself a GoPro cam too and I will edit my video and submit that as evidence too. I am sick to death of incompitent drivers thinking they know what they are doing when they are in mid conversation on the phone. It's bad enough when people are in the car and they don't have to hold a device to their ear sometimes!

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Good man!

 

[LarryDuff]

Saw a guy on a bike on Sunday going a fair lick through my home village while talking away on his phone.

 

[steveindenmark]

Can I ask how you knew the vehicle was not insured?

Could someone else not have been driving it on their insurance?

Steve

 

[gaz]

Can I ask how you knew the vehicle was not insured?

Could someone else not have been driving it on their insurance?

Steve

It's possible to check the Motor insurance database, which shows if a vehicle has insurance registered against it. The check can be a week out of date though.

 

[Arjimlad]

There's a young lad who blazes along a single track road with passing places yabbering on his mobile the whole way. I told him off for it one day but it made no difference. His driving is awful because he is not paying enough attention. Other motorists tell him off but they just get 2 fingers.

I don't cycle that way home all that much because it is a short and muddy route, but if I could catch him & take a picture on my phone of him on his, perhaps the Police might act...

 

[Alan Whicker]

Reported some jackass using his ipad the other week. He had it on his steering wheel . Used the new 101 non-emergency police number. I often report drivers to RoadSafe but it feels like delivering mail to an empty house. Never get a reply. 101 got very excited when I told them what I'd just seen!

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

It's possible to check the Motor insurance database, which shows if a vehicle has insurance registered against it. The check can be a week out of date though.

Doesn't work if its a business vehicle insured via business insurance.

 

[gaz]

Doesn't work if its a business vehicle insured via business insurance.

Is that info not stored in the MID?

 

[Amanda P]

Doesn't work if its a business vehicle insured via business insurance.

That's funny, because where I work we have Crown vehicles which aren't insured at all (they're underwritten directly by the Treasury) and leased vehicles for which we do have business insurance. Both come up as insured on askMID.

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

Maybe they've changed askmid??

Last year i checked our three company vans, and they didn't come up as having insurance,
even though i knew they were insured.

 

[Mushroomgodmat]

I did a stupid stupid stupid thing yesterday...

during my morning commute to work a car overtakes me a little close - this does not particularly bother me as it happens all the time. But what did bother me was when I looked though his rear window i saw he was texting, and not paying any attention to me or the road . So anyway I cycled a little faster, caught him up and knocked a couple of times on his rear side window.

He was looking at his phone when i did it, and his look on his face when i did this was was total shock and panic. It was then I realised what a total idiot I had been.

The other stupid thing - once our eyes met I realised he was built like a tank, he could probably kill me with his little finger.

Anyway, red mist got the better of me

 

[recumbentpanda]

You did a very good thing. Big thanks from me. Yes it could have gone horribly wrong, but then, so can riding a bike.

 

[bonker]

On my commute it's getting to the stage where it would be easier to report those people not using a phone than those who are. I try and make innoffensive gestures to 'say stop' texting or 'watch the road' but quite often they are so busy texting they don't bother looking up!

 

[steveinnorthants]

I don't condone driving and using a mobile in any way whatsoever, but do feel that this forum is becoming heavily populated by camera weilding cyclists who see it as their duty to go round and film every incident, be it a close pass, a lorry jumping a red light, someone not seeing a cyclist etc etc etc.......leave it to the police guys else we cyclists are going to become even less popular. As has been posted elsewhere, we are not law enforcement officers, if you want to be one then join up as a special!
How long before the BMW and Audi drivers start installing forward facing cameras on their dash to record cyclists jumping red lights, riding on pavements etc!