ACyclingRooster

Hi to all of you over there. Please accept my apologies if this has already been covered.
Over here in England and especially in the Cities and large towns there is a culture of cycle users that insist on using mobile phones whilst out physically riding.
They have very little regard for their own safety & possibly their lives.
Riding whilst making & receiving calls and often riding NO HANDS is a sure fired way of a disaster waiting to happen. Often it is also carried out on the footpaths and putting pedestrians,children in prams and buggies at risk never mind the potential for coming off into the moving traffic.
What is the view over there ?. Is it ignored by the Police because of the Paper Work involved or is there an ON THE SPOT FINE or confiscation of the cycle and returnable only upon payment of a fee?.

CraigB

I'm not aware of any laws against such behavior on this side of The Pond. That doesn't make it any less stupid, just not punishable.

stapfam

Don't have that problem down South- Perhaps because we have more traffic that requires full attention but Did see a Policeman- in Uniform- on a Police Cycle- using a mobile phone while cycling. It was pointed out to him by one of my riding group that he was being stupid but he took no notice.

maddmaxx 

Is it OK to use a mobile phone while stationary?

Wogster

In North America, it's car drivers who are often the ones yapping on cell phones, even in places where it's illegal to do so. You can get a ticket, however few places require cyclists to carry official ID, so that is little help.

Personally I don't have a cell phone, if I did, then it would have to have send-to-voice-mail-when-off capability. This is because my own practise in the past has been, that when driving or cycling, if the phone rings, I answer it with "please hold", then pull off safely and then deal with the phone. If running late or too busy to pull off to deal with phone calls, then I would turn it off and let all calls go to voice-mail.

Walkmans and other players, can be very dangerous, the problem being that may people seem to prefer to have the volume set to 11, so they can't hear anything else. Best if using a music player is to set it to mono mode, then only use one side. Slightly less ideal is to have the volume set low enough that it's in the background, the issue when cycling though is that it takes a lot to overcome wind noise. I use mine often at the beach or pool, where I don't want to hear the people around me.

BluesDawg

I don't know if it is illegal, but it sure is a bad idea.

Steve B.

I almost rear ended a teenager on a bike last spring, tapping away on his phone with both thumbs, as he weaved side to side on the road. Fortunately for him it was a quiet residential street with little traffic (except me). As I moved to pass him on the right (he was in the middle of the street), he veered towards me and I had to scream out to get his attention. That pissed him off somehow, probably as was expecting to be able to hear a car approaching from behind and I was pretty quiet, thus he was startled. He hurled a few curses at me out and had I not been turning at the next street I would have given him a Gatorade shower for his thoughts.

I see this all the time now and I would venture that 90% of the time, it's a kid or teenager that's on the phone, mostly as the youth today cannot stand for a second to not be engaged in conversation on their cell phones, or to be typing a message. Occasionally I'll see am adult women doing this and these folks really have no clue how stupid and dangerous it is until they wake up in the hospital.

ArtM

In Virginia: "It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle, bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, or moped on the highways in the Commonwealth while using earphones on or in both ears.

For the purpose of this section, "earphones" shall mean any device worn on or in both ears that converts electrical energy to sound waves or which impairs or hinders the person's ability to hear,..."

Maryland has "hands-free" laws wrt phones.

OldsCOOL

We dont need any more laws and regulations in this country.....maybe Great Britain but not here. And yes, we have discussed this once or twice (welcome to the 50+'ers, by the way)

The other day I saw a lady riding down the sidewalk no handed and the phone out in front of her. Amazing.

Me? I take my Iphone but it's hard to ride in the drops and text.

OldsCOOL

I may be mistaken but isnt it Virginia and WVa that also requires helmets?

eja_ bottecchia

Drive around any major college campus and you will see lots of kids riding their bikes, cellphone on hand, yappping away utterly oblivious to traffic and/or pedestrians.

So much for the value of a higher education.

RonH

Welcome ACyclingRooster.

Around here cyclists have more to fear from motorists who are talking with driving (not illegal) or texting while driving (illegal). I've seen a few cyclists talking while riding. Some were even riding in the road.
My cell phone (not a smart phone) stays in my phone holder on my handlebar. If it rings or if I need to make a call, I stop with both feet on the ground to do so.

CraigB

Once on our local MUP I saw a guy riding no-handed while strumming a guitar.

teachme

Welcome to the BF! It is against the law. Could be considered reckless driving, or reckless operation of a vehicle.

cehowardGS

IMO, the mobile phone this is getting to be a real bad thing. Not only the drivers of vehicles and bicycles, but just plain WALKING WITH THE DAM PHONES, IMO, is a super problem. I see people all the time walking across the street with cars coming talking on the phone. Some times with the bicycle or motorcycle when parked, I have WARNED people to stay stay clear of my bike/motorcycle. Why? They will walk right into it. Mainly are the ones, that are talking and are so much into the conversation on the phone, they walk in circles.

Nothing I can do about it, but in my household (my wife and I), I don't allow talking and walking, and no way talking an driving.

But, that is just the way I see it.. Others might have different views.

teachme

+1 Walking and talking or texting on a cell phone can be dangerous in high traffic areas.

CbadRider

Walking and texting are not a good combination:

BigAura

rdmjr

My favorite way of expressing this is:

In Ohio, the speed limit around schools is 20 mph. The speed limit on the University of Cincinnati's main campus is 15 mph. What does that tell you about the relative intelligence (or common sense, if you prefer!) of kindergardeners vs. college kids?

AzTallRider

LMAO. Not sure I like the idea of security video being posted to YouTube, but I'm still LMAO.

bigbadwullf

I'm Ok.................. I use an Android

Camilo

I don't use the phone while riding. I just turn it off, or if I forget to, I ignore it. On the rare occasions I have to monitor the phone while I'm riding, I just pull over to use it. It's not rocket science.

I listen to my headphones about 90% of the time when I'm riding alone (never in a group - why would you?). This business about not being able to ride safely while listenting to head phones is rubbish. I ride safely. I pay attention. I ride defensively (40+ years of road and traffic riding), and my head phones don't disable my hearing any more than wind noise. They don't turn me into a clueless idiot.

But then again, most of my riding doesn't involve a lot of stop and go city traffic any more. I don't listen to music in those conditions because I couldn't hear it anyway over the traffic noise.

I do get tired of people who become idiots on their bikes because of their headphones or telephones. It doesn't have to be that way, and it's not the device that makes the person an idiot. It's the person.

bigbadwullf

Amen.

eja_ bottecchia

I've been to Ohio many times. In fact, my son is currently the recipient of Ohio's higher education. I've never, however, in all my travels to Ohio seen a kindergarterner driving.

VNA

A law was passed to make it illegal to use a cell phone while riding a bike in California.

I wish they would pass a law so no one ride a bike with a dog on a leach running along--so incredibly dangerous particularly if a rabbit, a squirrel cross the path or even another dog!