15 Drivers Face Charges For Photographing Scene

Ilovemycam wrote in post #17577592
In 2016 they estimate there will be 2 billion smart phones out there.

Which should equate to about 1.5 billion not so smart users....

Got worried about the title, but then saw that it's the UK.

My boss has like 1200 contacts on his phone and remembers to check in with most of them, and he writes freaking messages while behind the wheel.
I've never seen a better driver though, sometimes he suddenly says "watch, this guy is gonna cut off that other driver" or "he's gonna hit the breaks" and a few seconds later everything happens like according to script. Clairvoyance seems like a nice skill to have when driving on Russia's roads.

It will catch up to him..an accident happens in split seconds, the time it takes to look down and read a message, is all the time it takes to wind up a statistic. The accident I was in, the fool ran a stop sign...and because the intersection had blind spots, I didn't see him until he had already went past the sign...when I hit him (and I had applied my brakes) , he was in the center of the intersection, and I was looking, imagine my attention being diverted for a split second and not applying my brakes...I hit him broadside and pushed him...no one was hurt thankfully, though my car was totaled...

Maybe. In the 10 years I've known him, there wasn't a single accident or anything close to it, something not even an attentive driver could claim to do in Russia. There is not a single vehicle on our roads older than 6 months that hasn't been in one form of accident or another, as a result nearly every car sold here comes equipped with a video recorder on the dash.

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #17578357
Maybe. In the 10 years I've known him, there wasn't a single accident or anything close to it, something not even an attentive driver could claim to do in Russia.

And I had been driving for 30 years up to that point....It only takes an instant..

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #17578357
Maybe. In the 10 years I've known him, there wasn't a single accident or anything close to it, something not even an attentive driver could claim to do in Russia. There is not a single vehicle on our roads older than 6 months that hasn't been in one form of accident or another, as a result nearly every car sold here comes equipped with a video recorder on the dash.

And a lot of those videos are broadcast on a TV show here in the US. It is remarkable how incredibly bad the driving is in Russia, judging from the dashcam videos that are shown!

I believe the insurance plans in Russia aren't "No Fault", or "Primary Fault", but "Your Fault" - whoever is last to yell "Your Fault" after the accident is held to be the responsible party.

What does the law there say if a driver had used a regular camera that is not a phone?

ChunkyDA wrote in post #17578791
What does the law there say if a driver had used a regular camera that is not a phone?

Unlike mobile phones there does not seem to be any specific law stopping you from doing this however similar to eating/drinking/smokin​g while driving if they believe your attention is not focused enough on the road and you are therefore not fully in control of the vehicle/driving safely they can still prosecute you. Whether they would or not is difficult to say, clearly the fact using a mobile while driving is illegal makes it a bit easier for them.

Wish they could fine the people who start the slow down to stop and stare too, I get stuck in so many traffic jams due to people slowing down to see if their is anyting suitably gruesome to gawk at. That said I've been stuck in traffic jams where everyone is slowing down to look at a car that has simply broken down and is safely off the road.

ChunkyDA wrote in post #17578791
What does the law there say if a driver had used a regular camera that is not a phone?

I agree with Shake. Any activity that interferes with the driver's ability to operate the vehicle could result in a ticket - if they're lucky; or if they're not lucky, then another accident for drivers to gawk at. E.g. small, medium and large sized dogs jumping up and down in the driver's lap while draped over their arm so they can hang their head out the window.

Don't most regions have various flavours of "distracted driver" laws? The newer laws specifically targeting cellphone use and the like being more about clearing up issues with drivers claiming that they were in full control of the vehicle while they 'safely' texted or whatever. So cell phone vs DSLR just becomes a difference of what title goes on the ticket.

Shake N Vac wrote in post #17579192
Wish they could fine the people who start the slow down to stop and stare too, I get stuck in so many traffic jams due to people slowing down to see if their is anyting suitably gruesome to gawk at. That said I've been stuck in traffic jams where everyone is slowing down to look at a car that has simply broken down and is safely off the road.

Really depends on the scene, but I know I feel far more comfortable going by an accident scene at a slower than normal speed after I was in a vehicle which nearly hit an EMT one time. (He hadn't realized that the police had just started waving traffic through the cleared lanes, and ran across the scene to take gear to a different victim without thinking.) Too few drivers are trained in proper situational awareness to really safely operate a vehicle, and it is scary how many drivers just stare straight ahead and keep their vehicle between the lines. (And scarier still at the number who can't even manage that on a consistent basis.)

Luckless wrote in post #17579464
Really depends on the scene, but I know I feel far more comfortable going by an accident scene at a slower than normal speed after I was in a vehicle which nearly hit an EMT one time. (He hadn't realized that the police had just started waving traffic through the cleared lanes, and ran across the scene to take gear to a different victim without thinking.) Too few drivers are trained in proper situational awareness to really safely operate a vehicle, and it is scary how many drivers just stare straight ahead and keep their vehicle between the lines. (And scarier still at the number who can't even manage that on a consistent basis.)

In California a recent law requires drivers to change lanes or slow down when passing emergency vehicles stopped on the freeway.

I see idi-ts on their phones every single day. Asleep at the stop light, texting and driving, talking everything. Oh, and yes, the dogs hanging out the driver's side window too. I'm thinking of installing a dashboard camera too and if they drive like morons report them. They endanger me an my family with their selfish and stupid behavior and for that I have little tolerance. Looking away for a couple seconds is a bad idea, at higher speeds you drive the distance of a football field blind!

I read some software is in the works to make this impossible, the phone would be able to detect if you're the driver and simply not work until you pull over and stop. I'm all for that. I don't even answer the phone when I drive (don't have a free hand thing). That's why there's an answering machine built in, it can wait.

number six wrote in post #17581413
In California a recent law requires drivers to change lanes or slow down when passing emergency vehicles stopped on the freeway.

Same law in Virginia

Half the drivers on city streets here don't pull to the side when a fire engine or ambulance comes up behind them with siren going.