Dangerous driving in Carrick's capital

Oct 23 2009 by Julie Simpson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

I AM referring to motorists and other drivers continuing to flout the law by using their hand held mobile telephones when driving their vehicles.

There is one example of this inconsiderate and careless example that happened on the morning of Wednesday, October 14 around 11.50am on Maybole High Street that could have been the cause of a serious accident.

This particular dark haired female driver was driving a black car up the High Street using her hand held mobile phone when she saw someone on the pavement outside the Maybole Health Centre and waved her other hand at him resulting in her driving the car for a few seconds with no hands on the steering wheel, not only that she must have been driving her car at about 40mph, and only a few yards down from the pedestrian crossing.

If there had been someone using the crossing at that time there could have been a serious accident, or a fatality as a result of her thoughtless and careless driving, she would have been unable to stop in time because she was not concentrating on her driving as a result of her using her hand held mobile phone. It is apparent that when people are driving when using their hand held mobile phones they are not in full control of their vehicle and as such are a danger to other drivers and pedestrians alike.

All that she needed to do was to stop her car somewhere safe, turn off her engine and then used her phone while her vehicle was stationary; it only needs a little thought and consideration for other drivers and pedestrians.

Apparently this female driver had neither the thought nor the consideration for the safety of others. Best of all she could have switched off her phone as soon as she got into her car.

Donald Stewart

Maybole.