ShiteDrivers.com - Bad driving on Irish roads exposed! » Penalty Points

Poll: How many penalty points are on your license?

niallok — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:02:55 +0000

Just a general query – and of course this poll is completely anonymous. How many (if any) penalty points have you on your license?

I recently had the good fortune of having my last penalty points removed from my license. At the most, I’d accumulated 6 – all for speeding, but now I’m back to zero.

How about you?…

{democracy:7}

Female SUV drivers and mobiles

georgev — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:34:14 +0000

Am I the only one now who is now totally pissed off with the amount of SUV women drivers who continue to use their mobile phones when driving. It’s as if the law doesn’t apply to them, only to the rest of us. I have now started blowing my horn at any I see on the phone, and wagging my finger saying No!!. These are the very people who have more to loose, as they usually have infants on board. It seems they don’t know how to pull in to use the phone, or maybe bluetooth technology has them baffled, as you never see them wearing bluetooth earpieces, it might interfere with the hairstyle or maybe clash with the colour of the shades parked on their heads. Maybe it’s time for the law to be changed, with 4 penalty points, or even 6, if you are caught using a mobile when driving.

I am also appalled at the number of truck and van drivers who still use their phones when driving, you would imaging that the Road Hauliers Association, who pontificate about everything else, might insist that their members obey the law on mobiles. I personally feel that it is more dangerous to drive while talking on a mobile then driving with one or two pints, this is purely my personal view but I, and the majority of my friends, have always felt that speed, and driving while on a mobile, are the most common causes of accidents on our roads. Escessive speeding and driving while on a hand held mobile hould be treated in the same way that drinkers are now penalised.

“You’re 4 times more likely to crash when on the phone” – RSA

niallok — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:11:58 +0000

People who use a mobile phone while driving are 4 TIMES more likely to have a crash, putting themselves and other road-users at an increased risk of death or serious injury, the Road Safety Authority said today.

Making no distinction between hand-held and hands-free usage of mobile phones, Noel Brett of the RSA said that “using a mobile phone while driving distracts the driver, impairs their control of the vehicle and reduces their awareness of what is happening around them.”

Motorists caught holding a mobile phone to their heads while driving face fines of up to â‚¬2,000 and 4 penalty points on their license. The organisation is now running a new campaign, including a 30 second radio advertisement, encouraging people not to use their mobile phones AT ALL (including via bluetooth headsets and speakers) while driving suggesting you “switch off before you drive off” – and if you really need to make a call, pull over and switch it back on.

The full press release can be seen via the RSA web site, here – and their leaflet “Mobile Phones & Driving” can be obtained (in PDF format) here.

Just a thought though – aren’t sat navs (GPS systems) just as distracting as phones with bluetooth – or perhaps even more so, as you actually have to LOOK away from the windscreen and the road ahead to use it?

Media: Motoring discussion on Newstalk today

niallok — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:23:48 +0000

There will be a discussion on motoring, including topics on foreign drivers, the penalty points system and this very web site on the Moncrieff programme on Newstalk 106-108 today at 2pm.

I should be on it talking to SeÃ¡n about ShiteDrivers.com at about 2.20pm. You can tune in live via the Web here or between 106 and 108FM (Ireland only).

EDIT: I won’t now be on the show. They’re talking to someone from AA roadwatch instead.