Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by yonaguska on Monday September 23, 2019 @02:16PM (#21051778)

To second your point- I'd hazard that people using phones at lights are also using them in between lights. I filter at lights despite it being illegal where I live- because I've already been rear ended twice by people on phones. And by filtering I get a great view on people using their phones. They are nine times out of ten using their phones leading up to the light, during the light and during takeoff. I've also noticed that when they notice movement in their peripheral, they start driving forward even when the light is red. I filter much slower now so as to keep people from blindly thinking the light is green and shooting out into traffic or into a pedestrian.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by WalterBright on Monday September 23, 2019 @06:05PM (#21054251)

In the last year I've begun pausing slightly before pulling into an intersection when the light just turned green. I don't care to be t-boned by someone failing to get through before it turned red.

I've also started glancing left & right going through the green even if it's been green a while.

Once the traffic in front of me stopped suddenly, I stopped, and the truck behind me didn't and totaled my car, nearly killing me. Since then I glance in the rearview mirror when I have to stop hard, which paid off one day when I figured the guy behind me wasn't going to stop in time, I pulled off onto the shoulder, and he hit the car in front of me.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by RandallBrown on Monday September 23, 2019 @08:11PM (#21055169)

Isn't this just how everyone should be driving all the time?

This is what I was taught when I learned to drive 20 years ago, and texting wasn't really a thing back then.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by WalterBright on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @02:30AM (#21057136)

> Isn't this just how everyone should be driving all the time?

Perhaps, but I too frequently encounter the notion that having the legal right of way means one doesn't have to look. I've especially encountered this with bicyclists. Sometimes they'll tell me that it's ok because if someone hits them, they'll get a huge lawsuit judgement. I counter with what good is that if you're dead or crippled?

Some people I just don't understand.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by Doxterpepper on Monday September 23, 2019 @03:31PM (#21052651)

> "I've also noticed that when they notice movement in their peripheral, they start driving forward even when the light is red."

This has been the case for years. When people aren't paying attention they are pavlovian in staring forward when they notice movement around them. But this doesn't necessarily have to coincide with cell phone usage, just bad driving.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by reaperducer on Monday September 23, 2019 @05:29PM (#21053923)

So we shouldn't punish bad driving?

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by dsfyu404ed on Monday September 23, 2019 @05:45PM (#21054075)

Because ~95% of the populace is bad for some definition of bad. We should really only be punishing exceptional badness.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by baroffoos on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @03:13AM (#21057358)

95% of the population probably shouldn't be driving. It should be a job held to exceptional standards like a pilot.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by dsfyu404ed on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @06:40AM (#21058461)

How can someone say this with a straight face? Driving is for better or worse the primary means of covering long distance in a timely and economical manner for a large slice of the global population.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by jdnenej on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @07:25AM (#21058727)

That's a pretty big problem. Governments need to put in a big effort to remove the car dependence they created rather than let careless people go on killing because it's a convenient way for them to get to work and read the news at the same time.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by letmeinhere on Monday September 23, 2019 @02:47PM (#21052143)

What do you mean by "filter"?

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by jachee on Monday September 23, 2019 @02:52PM (#21052211)

I believe they mean riding a motorcycle in the gap between two lanes of traffic, thus "filtering" through the static traffic to the front.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by reaperducer on Monday September 23, 2019 @05:30PM (#21053934)

It's worth noting that this is legal in some places. Not everyone on HN may be aware of that. I know I was surprised when I first saw it.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by ludston on Monday September 23, 2019 @07:45PM (#21054989)

It's legal in NSW Australia so long as traffic is not moving.

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by hnick on Tuesday September 24, 2019 @03:51AM (#21057561)

It's legal in traffic moving up to 30 km/h (including the rider) actually.

https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/stayingsafe/motorcyc...

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Re:Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones by cmroanirgo on Monday September 23, 2019 @06:09PM (#21054276)

The long name is "lane filtering".

I've seen an increase of motorcycle cops lane filtering at traffic lights, looking into the laps of the drivers. If there's a phone there, they're booked.

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