Enough hazards on roads

Eric Baxter Eric Baxter - 1629 • Published 21 May 2008 16:30 0 Comments

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REPORTS about drivers using their mobiles to phone or text their pals - or even make videos while on the move - probably strike a disturbingly familiar chord with many Inverclyde motorists.

The other day I was heading south up Inverkip Road from the Greenock cemetery roundabout, glanced in the mirror and spotted a driver steering with his left hand and talking animatedly into his phone held plainly in view in his right hand.

That"s a bit of cheek, I thought to myself, expecting him to hang up quickly.

But no. He kept on yapping and his speed was erratic.

Just after the Bow Road junction he snapped the phone off - and, when I looked back a few seconds later, he was on the blinking blower again, still steering with one hand.

This call lasted until he veered off another mile along the road, one paw at the helm.

It might not have been quite so bad (although still against the law) if he had used the phone"s loudspeaker function while still steering with both hands, but it looked as if the phone was taking up far too much of his attention.

I was relieved to see the back of the chancer.

How do you stop drivers doing that? Short of lining roads with surveillance cameras or having polis cars at every corner, the only answer is to increase penalties.

And even then there will always be someone taking the chance of not getting caught.

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 21 May 08

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