Driver distraction the August target

helium said :

Yesterday, at pedestrian crossing, waited for driver on mobile to run red light, then started crossing, 2nd driver coming the other way screams to a stop and stalls. Distraction is a problem not a joke.

EVERY day I see red light runners, drivers on mobiles (particularly tradies and truckies, young P platers). If MUST chat on a phone get a damn headset, or just let it go to messagebank, is that conversation that important ?

So this targeted approach is unlikely to have any impact as for some reason drivers will always somehow justify that using a mobile phone or texting is safe and they wont get caught, wont lose 3 points and $280 and will simply return to old habits.

Judging by the number of tradies that actually call you back, i.e. none, I’m wondering why so many of them are always driving whilst talking on their mobile!

Reprobate said :

To the dopey c*cksucker who drove at normal speed across a raised pedestrian crossing yesterday morning while I was half way across it, I hope the cost of removing the dent in your Golf GTI from the briefcase I swung into your door with costs considerably more than a police ticket.

Winning

Judging by my journey to work this morning, the use of indicators is clearly a distraction and most drivers are therefore electing not to use them. Instead just barging their way into the lane they need to beat the last minute so they can then exit left without having to use their brake pedal, whilst pulling a trailer and speeding.

To the dopey c*cksucker who drove at normal speed across a raised pedestrian crossing yesterday morning while I was half way across it, I hope the cost of removing the dent in your Golf GTI from the briefcase I swung into your door with costs considerably more than a police ticket.

Johnny_Moe said :

You shouldn’t even be allowed on the roads unless you can reverse parallel park, while listening to loud music and eating a Yarralumla kebab. If you can’t do that please stay off the roads when I am driving, thank you.

Ahhhh the eating a yaralumla kebab while driving challenge. I tried a few times but have just given up.nwill now eat it in the parked car due to severa
Kebab explosions over my work clothes. The immense power is hard enough to contain while stationary.

Also lol @ someone thinking its dangeous to drive under the limit or be in the *over taking lane*. If you cannot see that somebody is moving slower than yourself, then it’s you who shouldn’t be driving.

And after all these years I fail to see the difference between talking on your phone, talking on a hands free and talking to your passenger.
I got a hands free long ago and it’s continent just to click a button instead of get phone from pocket and answer, but the distraction levels(none) are the same.

Yesterday, at pedestrian crossing, waited for driver on mobile to run red light, then started crossing, 2nd driver coming the other way screams to a stop and stalls. Distraction is a problem not a joke.

EVERY day I see red light runners, drivers on mobiles (particularly tradies and truckies, young P platers). If MUST chat on a phone get a damn headset, or just let it go to messagebank, is that conversation that important ?

So this targeted approach is unlikely to have any impact as for some reason drivers will always somehow justify that using a mobile phone or texting is safe and they wont get caught, wont lose 3 points and $280 and will simply return to old habits.

Fantastic, now that they are targeting something else I can go back to speeding through roadworks. I just need to find somewhere else to eat my meals and tweezer my nosehairs for a while, that’s all.

m00nee said :

My answer was in regards to how can the police determine if your music is too loud….

I wasn’t so much disputing that, as stating that the two – defect-ably loud car vrs distractingly loud car – were not really the same thing.

m00nee said :

Being defected will mean that the vehicle will need to pass a full registration inspection, something that most “mobile discos” will struggle with.

I suspect you are right – this would be the real punishment.

You shouldn’t even be allowed on the roads unless you can reverse parallel park, while listening to loud music and eating a Yarralumla kebab. If you can’t do that please stay off the roads when I am driving, thank you.

p1 said :

Errr… but what you are talking about has to do with a vehicle’s conformance with Australian Design Rules, and its road-worthiness/registration status. If a car is too loud, the police would generally issue a Vehicle Defect Notice (minor or major). This would restrict the use of the vehicle until either the defect was cleared or the rego was cancelled.

To clear the defect the person would have to go to a inspection station – turn the radio down – and assuming nothing else was dodgy, that would be it.

I think a cop would probably get picked on if he started writing defect notices for loud radios.

P1,

My answer was in regards to how can the police determine if your music is too loud.

Perhaps i should clarify that they have the ability to ticket drivers for careless/negligent driving because the volume of your music makes it impossible for you to hear the sirens of warning vehicles, as well as the vibration of the sub woofer at 77db+ rendering your mirrors basically useless.

In addition to this you can be defected due to your vehicle exceeding the maximum allowable noise limit [ADR28/01 – 77db drive-by and 90db static] (thanks Antagonist). The defect notice need only say that the vehicle was too noisy, not that your stereo was too loud. Being defected will mean that the vehicle will need to pass a full registration inspection, something that most “mobile discos” will struggle with.

Dont forget the clowns on Adelaide Ave and Yamba drive this morning holding up Foreshore signs every 1 km that you could hardly read, that combined with the 50,000(Exaggerated Figure) roadwork signs outside the hospital just add to the issue…..when is the responsibility of the driver negated by external parties that drivers have no control over…..maybe ACT Policing should also be concentrating of removing distractions from the road side to allow drivers to better concentrate if that is what this is all about, or is it just a ‘crackdown’ for revenue raising?

Madam Cholet said :

Or like having to take note of badly written flashing signs placed by the side of the road by the government?

Or this idiots out there this morning in -4 degrees with Foreshore signs

There were 2 shaking their signs on the Barton Hwy / Gundaroo Dr roundabout this morning.

Then some more along Northbourne Ave

m00nee said :

A Motor Vehicle can legally only produce noise to a certain level, regardless of what you are doing within the vehicle. This can be tested in a static or drive-by test. I believe it is 77db drive-by and 80db static for passenger cars.

Pretty sure the static test is 98db for pre-1980 cars and 90db for post.

m00nee said :

Actually it is quite simple. A Motor Vehicle can legally only produce noise to a certain level, regardless of what you are doing within the vehicle. This can be tested in a static or drive-by test. I believe it is 77db drive-by and 80db static for passenger cars. All the police need to do is set up a roadside noise testing unit and stop all the cars with sub woofers.

Errr… but what you are talking about has to do with a vehicle’s conformance with Australian Design Rules, and its road-worthiness/registration status. If a car is too loud, the police would generally issue a Vehicle Defect Notice (minor or major). This would restrict the use of the vehicle until either the defect was cleared or the rego was cancelled.

To clear the defect the person would have to go to a inspection station – turn the radio down – and assuming nothing else was dodgy, that would be it.

I think a cop would probably get picked on if he started writing defect notices for loud radios.

SnapperJack said :

I confess, I have been listening to “loud music” in the car since gaining my licence in 1985. First on cassette, then CDs and now via USB audio.

Cool story bro!

screaming banshee said :

Eating a pie while driving should be part of the driving test.

Texting too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbjSWDwJILs

I hope that the police don’t just concentrate on drivers with limited visibility on frosty mornings, but are on the lookout when the sun is low in the afternoon as well.

Driving from the City to Belconnen in the afternoon, particularly at this time of the year when the sun is low and right in your eyes right about the time that lots of people are driving home, it’s amazing the number of people you see with windscreens that haven’t seen a cleaning product in a hell of a long time. They end up coated in that white haze inside that’s fine to see through – until the sun tries to shine straight through it.

A bit of windex people, it’s all that’s needed!

threepaws said :

I’d be interested to see how the police would be expected to make a determination about the volume of your music in relation to whether you were undertaking an activity that involved either automatic or controlled processing.

Actually it is quite simple. A Motor Vehicle can legally only produce noise to a certain level, regardless of what you are doing within the vehicle. This can be tested in a static or drive-by test. I believe it is 77db drive-by and 80db static for passenger cars. All the police need to do is set up a roadside noise testing unit and stop all the cars with sub woofers.

Failing that everything else comes under the category of careless/negligent driving.

threepaws said :

Music in the car is interesting – studies have shown that music can actually increase your level of attention. Music in the car can help to focus your attention outward, rather than you daydreaming and staying ‘in your head’ if that makes sense.

It can become problematic when you switch from ‘automatic processing’ to ‘controlled processing’. Loud music might be fine when you are doing something quite automatic like highway driving, but when you actually have to think, it becomes harder to do two things at once.

You all know what it’s like to turn down the music while you are looking for a car park right?

I’d be interested to see how the police would be expected to make a determination about the volume of your music in relation to whether you were undertaking an activity that involved either automatic or controlled processing.

I’ve never consciously considered this subject before, but that’s pretty cool thinking.Interesting stuff indeed.

I drove from Victoria to Canberra over the weekend by myself. On the dull dual carriageway from Albury to Yass I had JJJ blaring out the last of Splendour in the Grass to keep me focused. I usually do this on long highway drives, as I find without it I tend to go “inside my head” as you put it, and I have trouble maintaining concentration.

As soon as I got on to the twisty, windy two lane Barton “highway” with rain and oncoming traffic I really had to concentrate, and I turned the music off so that I could concentrate intensely on the task at hand.

As for JJJ, Band of Skulls did one good cover, and Smashing Pumpkins were OK, but the rest of it seemed like crap, particularly the female rapper whose main claim to fame is saying c*nt in one of her songs.

What about mums reaching into the backseat to check on kids…

Music in the car is interesting – studies have shown that music can actually increase your level of attention. Music in the car can help to focus your attention outward, rather than you daydreaming and staying ‘in your head’ if that makes sense.

It can become problematic when you switch from ‘automatic processing’ to ‘controlled processing’. Loud music might be fine when you are doing something quite automatic like highway driving, but when you actually have to think, it becomes harder to do two things at once.

You all know what it’s like to turn down the music while you are looking for a car park right?

I’d be interested to see how the police would be expected to make a determination about the volume of your music in relation to whether you were undertaking an activity that involved either automatic or controlled processing.

Eating a pie while driving should be part of the driving test.

If listening to loud music, as opposed to listening to quiet music or the radio news, is a distraction, then is it because you cannot hear things outside the vehicle such as horns, sirens etc? If so, then hearing impaired people should not be allowed to drive. If it is simply because it is distracting, then ban audio systems in cars. How you ban someone from singing aloud though will be a challenge to the plod.

Distraction isn’t the problem, it’s general lack of awareness of other road users that causes accidents and confusion in others.
That includes driving too slowly, driving in the overtaking lane when not overtaking, not using mirrors, not indicating, not checking blind spots before pulling out into traffic, pulling out in front of other drivers because speed judgement is poor, waiting to turn right but not moving onto the right hand side of the carriageway to allow traffic flow to continue on single lane roads, turning left onto any road with the turning circle of an aircraft carrier and swinging your front end out so it crosses the centreline into the path of oncoming traffic, diagonally cutting the corner when turning right nearly taking the front end of others cars pulling to a stop.
Anything that causes another driver to abruptly alter direction or speed without good reason.

I do like how drivers normally pause for a second after lights have changed to green, not used to that.
They don’t do that in the UK even with a special light telling you to do it.

Solidarity said :

I wasn’t aware eating or listening to loud music was actually illegal?

It comes under such things as ‘drive without proper control of vehicle’, ‘negligent driving’ etc. If anything you’re doing in your vehicle causes you to swerve around in your lane or move out of your lane etc, then either of the above offences could apply. I’ve seen people reading maps and newspapers whilst driving, same applies to them.

I confess, I have been listening to “loud music” in the car since gaining my licence in 1985. First on cassette, then CDs and now via USB audio. I have a clean driving record and am not distracted from the road, even when tapping in time on the steering wheel. Is this an attempt to perpetuate the bogan, revhead “doof doof” stereotype?

Any more red herrings from the local plods?

This is a very welcome thing to target… if they actually get out there in force and do it.

In the past week, I’ve observed several drivers on mobile phones, one driver of a BMW using both hands to eat a 6in Subway while turning right in Acton and one driver who was literally falling asleep or drugged out.

mmm – good luck to the Police, plenty to catch out there – like yesterday there was a lady driving really slowly and erratically on the right lane in a roundabout, then I saw her talking on the phone AND drinking… eeeeek

I wasn’t aware eating or listening to loud music was actually illegal?

What about those dickheads you see listening to headphones in the car? Usually a female driving a Mazda 3 or some other generic shitbox unable to stay within its own lane.

shirty_bear said :

uhhh, targeted how?

Predator drones.

Can they remove the politicians signs from the side of the road as well?

There was one goose at the start of the Parkway where three lanes join one at Kambah distracting people yesterday.

Gulia with a G out side the lodge & some other one on the Cotter road near the flower guy.

GardeningGirl said :

Girl with something in her lap and eyes constantly flicking updownupdown on the Parkway yesterday afternoon, this means you.

There were hundreds like that. And more again on every other main road around town. It’s a deadset giveaway they’re using a mobile below viewing height.

I caught a bus the other night. It was scary how many you see from the lofty height of a bus seat doing exactly the same. But not surprising….

uhhh, targeted how? By speed camera? Certainly won’t be achieved by the legions of rozzers we never actually see out on the roads. In fact, I will happily speculate that this very press release is the sum total of action to be taken.

p1 said :

I’m all for targeting anything other then speeding (not that cops shouldn’t book people for speeding….).

I can’t wait though, for the first person to challenge in court the charge of “radio up too loud”.

my thoughs exactly, what is classed as “listening to loud music”……

Girl with something in her lap and eyes constantly flicking updownupdown on the Parkway yesterday afternoon, this means you.

I’m all for targeting anything other then speeding (not that cops shouldn’t book people for speeding….).

I can’t wait though, for the first person to challenge in court the charge of “radio up too loud”.

I certainly applaud this approach. Anything that increases the focus on the cause(s) of accidents other than speeding* gets a tick in my book.

Back in 2008 a report by AAMI found:

“Absent-mindedness is a factor in 44 per cent of all car collisions, with drivers much more likely to crash due to their own inattention than from speeding, fatigue and alcohol combined.

“While speed, fatigue and alcohol are factors in 37 per cent of car crashes, AAMI’s research shows inattention is the number one reason drivers crash into another vehicle or stationary object.”

*I’ve no problem with strategies to catch/punish speeding drivers. It’s the often OTT focus on speeding at the expense of other crash factors I dislike. Too many drivers think they are safe simply because they don’t speed. That’s good, but is only aspect of being a safe driver.

Or like having to take note of badly written flashing signs placed by the side of the road by the government?