In the UK it is illegal to drive whilst using your mobile phone. Very illegal..like points on your license illegal and I think now there is even jail time if you get caught.
Yet one of our big car accessory retailers is now pushing the sale of a CD/DVD player installed in the radio slot which either folds out into a DVD screen or is inbuilt into the fascia of the DIN unit so you can watch movies as you drive.
It says on their website the following:
“Please note that for audio/visual applications, the screen must not be visible to the driver while the car is in motion.”
Right so..something which is installed in the centre console of the car and in some cases cannot be angled won’t be visible to the driver? Riiiight..hell the little flashy things on my CD player in the car have been enough to distract me before let alone being able to see/hear a film
Now..you could argue that it’s for when you aren’t driving, or for a passenger but this afternoon I sat behind a guy, by himself at a junction who was watching his little dvd player. Watching it so intently that he sat holding traffic up at an empty junction. It goes to show that there are dumbassess who would drive and watch movies and there are probably a lot more where he came from.
Now I don’t dispute the law against mobile phones whilst driving because I’ve seen people so busy on their phone they are swinging all over the lanes on the motorway and at 100mph it’s not going to end well. Plus I can’t focus for shit on driving whilst using the phone so I either bluetooth or I don’t answer. There is no call worth wrecking for and if it really is that important then I’ll find somewhere to pull up. I get mad when I see other people on their phone and driving, I even get mad when I see it in films (yep I am *that* pathetic) but seeing someone watch films and drive takes me to a whole new level of mad.
It really bugs the shit out of me that they are allowed to sell something which is so blatantly aimed at the driver. It bugs me more than people would get behind the wheel and use it as they drive.
The dude today was lucky it was shitty weather because had it not have been I would probably have got out, dragged him out of his car and given him a…very stern talking too.
ooooh a post AND a new pretty! Very nice.
I am in the car as I comment. Driving. Drinking coffee as well. But don’t worry I swerve carefully.
Comment by ocb — January 15, 2008 @ 4:46 pm
Hah! The very thought makes me twitch.
I need to learn how to swerve carefully as mine is less than stellar. You know..for when I am catching up on Dexter, checking emails and applying lipstick on the go.
Comment by debbie — January 15, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
Road Rash was like the coolest game ever! Fast motorbikes and hitting people with metal poles and mach 2 = FTW! Games these days are so tame. If they re-made that today there would be some NFS:U style warning like “Hi, I’m Cammy, one of the actors from Road Rash (ooooh, an ac-tor, rly? great gig…. anyway), driving realy fast and pulverising peoples skulls like egg shells being deftly manipulated by baby elephants is fun, but only a fool would take it onto the road (ie, here is the seed of a brilliant idea, dont run with it) – ultra high speed violance is for the track… EA sports! FTW!”. Uh… so… why am I talking? Oh yeah, kinda like “Here is a bright glowey neon ball of technology demanding your attention. DONT LOOK!”
Comment by Waving Gopher — January 15, 2008 @ 8:46 pm
Hey don’t give dude a harsh time….maybe it was a intructional video on “how to drive a car”
Comment by Chris — January 15, 2008 @ 10:45 pm
Hah yeah that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard. Whenever I see drivers on the phone I always look around hoping there will be a police car somewhere so I can then laugh at their misfortune but I guess the police are too busy watching DVDs in their cars. :p
Comment by Maren — January 17, 2008 @ 1:11 am