Another tragic incident from motorist selfishness

A lorry driver, who was driving a 7.5 tonne lorry at the time he was attempting to press the keypad of his mobile handset, was not paying attention to the road ahead of him and his lorry ran onto the back of a vehicle and then rolled over it. In the aftermath, the lorry had also damaged six other vehicles waiting in a queue of traffic. The first vehicle the lorry hit and rolled over had a woman driver only as its occupant, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The lorry driver, 31-year-old John Payne said in court he did not know why he was pressing the buttons on his handset because he did not intend to make a call but the prosecuting lawyer told the court Mr Payne (which is no misnomer) had mentioned to his companion at the time that he wanted to know how to operate the handset.

We have again had another loss of life through the inappropriate actions of a driver concerned more with his mobile handset than the safety of himself, his passenger and other road users. What would have happened had there been cyclists, motorcyclists, people moving in between the traffic, who could have been unaware of the lorry? More deaths. It sounded quite a miracle others were not killed in their vehicles, much less on open road. Some people believe they can handle operating a mobile and drive simultaneously. The judge in this case said the incident described before him in court made for a telling example of why such conduct is to be eradicted. But we are a society that do not pay attention unless we are involved in a circumstance.

The thing is Mr Payne would have looked to avoid thinking about his handset if he could have forseen the incident that unfolded. We should not need to be in a situation to learn to avoid it but we will not listen until it is too late and then aim to make amends, by which time it is far too colossal to turn the clock back. Mr Payne received a custodial sentence of four years. I say the incident should have been a case for Caldwell involuntary manslaughter and Mr Payne jailed for seven, if not eight, years.

I see numerous people still driving and talking on their handsets in total ignorance of the law. If it was considered important for the implementation of a hotline to the Department of Works and Pensions for informing on benefit claimants who abuse the benefits system, so why do they not do the same for those who openly flaunt motoring laws? Report the driver and their registration, time of offence and where. With CCTV said to be in such quantity around cities and of such covert operation, finding a vehicle on camera and deciphering whether drivers were alone or not, it should work to stop the mobile-handset-using drivers. Mobile phone operations are easier to prove giving satellite positioning and the masts logging every signal from the handsets, and the constant sight of drivers on their mobiles allows for plain-clothes officers to film and stop almost on a daily basis.