30 days in the hole [was: I ate a sandwich in a car in the UK]

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <s5dea3c4.004@mannlawfirm.com> "Bruce Aukerman" writes:

> I particularly like the update on traffic laws in the UK.
> $40 for using a phone; walkin' papers for snacking while driving?

No - walkin' papers for doing _any_ _two_ things while driving.

> Call me crazy, but I really don't want our traffic cops
> stopping to write tickets for taking a business call;
> or inspecting the vehicle for Super Burger wrappers.

I am quite happy.  The final trigger was a yuppie salesman who left
a hotel mid-morning and got a GSM "call-back" message as he left the
car park.  He dialed 121 as requested, got a message asking for a call
to be returned, and returned it.  Of course, on a digital network
all of these calls were time-stamped to the nearest hundredth of
a second.

We therefore know the exact moment a family of five coming the other
way died.

Anyone driving a vehicle who diverts 1% of their attention away from
that task - bearing in mind the consequences of their inattention -
deserves everything the law can throw at them.  This isn't a "personal
freedom" issue - the family coming the other way has rights, too.

You want to take risks?  Go on a track day.  Go mountaineering (though
even there it's largely a team activity).  Go hang-gliding.

--
 Phil Payne
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 01536 723021
 (The contents of this post will _NOT_ appear in the UK Newsletter.)