Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, First Drive, UK, Celebrities
Jeremy Clarkson caught driving while talking on cell... Britons freak out
It seems that lately, Jeremy Clarkson just can't catch a break. Like some other Englishmen we can think of, Clarkson has never had a problem being brutally honest, despite the fact that his viewpoints get him into trouble every now and again... and again. This time, Clarkson was allegedly photographed talking on a cell phone while driving. While some of the more car-consicous among us may be more interested in the classic Mercedes Benz that he was piloting, talking on a mobile phone while driving is illegal in the U.K., and apparently the offense is taken rather seriously. Clarkson is currently being chided for thinking that he is "above the law".
We can't help but wonder if this is being made into a much bigger deal than it normally would because of Clarkson's fame. The fact that his stardom revolves around automobiles and driving doesn't do him any favors in this particular situation either.
Thanks for the tip, iSpec!
[Source: Daily Mail]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Tim 8:46AM (3/12/2008)
I like Jeremy, but I can totally see him as a "rules don't apply to me" sort of person.
Reply
TwinTurbo3000GT 1:09PM (3/12/2008)
Honestly, who the hell DOESN'T talk on their phone while driving? Just the media making a big deal out of nothing, as usual.
Roman 8:52AM (3/12/2008)
Fcking pathetic if they make a big deal out of this. Tonnes and tonnes of people drive and phone occasionally.
And some old cars don't have a carkit, and sometimes you have to use the phone and drive. Big deal. I do it all the time as well.
Instead of focusing on left lane hoggers, people that drive so slow it causes traffic jams etc.
Ridiculous.
Reply
Gregg 8:58AM (3/12/2008)
You have no idea how badly you drive when you are on that phone. THAT is the problem.
Dazza 9:20AM (3/12/2008)
Roman: Pathetic eh? Not only is driving using a mobile considered to be "driving without due care and attention" in the UK and usually warrants 3-4 points and carries a £400 fine, it's also extremely dangerous - this activity has caused countless accidents, especially with the kind of traffic volumes Britain has on its roads these days.
Furthermore, a public figure of Clarkson's stature, a motoring journalist figurehead who is notoriously opinionated about the automotive industry and an advocate of the freedom that driving brings should really know better than to perform acts that his audience would be lawbreakers in repeating.
So yes, it's a very big deal.
Andrew 9:48AM (3/12/2008)
You guys are a bunch of ferries, the same bunch who were hallway monitors in elementary school. Get a life.
Gregg 10:03AM (3/12/2008)
Ferries, Andrew? Did you even go to school?
John 10:13AM (3/12/2008)
Oh look, it's the typical British overreaction to everything.
I used to think this country had gone nuts and become the ultimate RULES and Nanny state until I spent a summer in England.
I was never so happy to be back in the States than I was after that trip.
(Though I have to admit, short of encountering roundabouts on the Motorways and dodging speed cameras, it was about as close to long-distance driving nirvana as I'd ever encountered. British drivers on the Motorways were much better than any drivers on US interstates)
Mel. R 12:11PM (3/12/2008)
So let's get this straight... it's IS a big deal if a driver uses his cell phone (which takes a hand away from the driver) while driving, but it IS NOT a big deal if a driver uses the camera on his phone (which takes not only a and away, but the eyes as well) while driving? Because that is obviously what happened to get this photo. Smacks of hypocrisy, if you ask me. Two wrongs don't make a right.
And since when was "a man of his position like Clarkson" supposed to be responsible for how I drive? Last I checked, I (like most of you) was still an individual with my own moral and decision making compass, not a sheep who did something because everyone else was doing it, or I saw someone who the masses has declared an authority on a particular subject.
meshies 1:48PM (3/12/2008)
HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Andrew u summed it up perfect. Im gonna steal that phrase. The true herbs and ferries are most of the members on thecarlounge.
John Johnson 8:52AM (3/12/2008)
"We can't help but wonder if this is being made into a much bigger deal than it normally would because of Clarkson's fame."
Are you kidding me? Autoblog posted like 5 times last week about someone being photographed talking on their cell phone while driving!
Reply
Simon 2:33PM (3/13/2008)
I suspect it's being made out to be such a big deal because this story appeared in the Daily Mirror, which is a long time rival of The Sun, which happens to be the paper Jeremy Clarkson has a weekly column in. Things like this are fairly typical in the UK tabloids.
Jon 8:55AM (3/12/2008)
What's the big deal? Zoom out so we can see the car that he's driving.
Reply
Gregg 8:58AM (3/12/2008)
Talking on a cell phone while driving IS a big deal. Here in the US, most drivers don't see it as such, but then Americans tend to be such bad, sloppy drivers that they don't notice how blabbing on a cell deteriorates their already crappy driving. Practically every time I encounter someone driving too slow, pulling out in front of someone, sitting at a light too long, going through a red light, it is some guy with a phone in his ear or talking to his Bluetooth connectivity or Sync, or the soccer mom piloting some behemoth SUV or CUV.
Outlawing cell phone use here has about as much chance of happening as training the slower traffic to keep right or convincing Americans of the efficiency, fuel savings and safety associated with traffic circles instead of lights. Oh well.
Reply
h8rain 9:21AM (3/12/2008)
"...convincing Americans of the efficiency, fuel savings and safety associated with traffic circles instead of lights. Oh well."
Or small cars and diesels for that matter. Or that hybrids are hype and no real saving (money or environment) is happening.
David W. 11:01AM (3/12/2008)
"Outlawing cell phone use here has about as much chance of happening as training the slower traffic to keep right or convincing Americans of the efficiency, fuel savings and safety associated with traffic circles instead of lights. Oh well."
I don't know about other states, but slower traffic keeping right is actually a state law here in Texas...unfortunately it isn't really enforced.
As for the traffic circles, I hate them, and I doubt they would be safe in our country which has notoriously bad drivers.
why not the LS2LS7? 11:47AM (3/12/2008)
Gregg:
Talking on a hand-held phone while driving is already outlawed in New York state and it takes effect in California this summer.
spacegravity4me 1:29PM (3/12/2008)
I've been using BT headsets for years already, but it's only because --->IME
spacegravity4me 1:32PM (3/12/2008)
I've been using BT headsets for years already, but it's only because --->IME
raize221 2:27PM (3/12/2008)
Here in Washington State it's also a (unenforced) law to keep in the right lane and a ban on talking on a cell w/o a headset went into effect at the beginning of January.
Unfortunately, despite signs for both laws being posted everywhere, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference for either of them. Just earlier today I was waiting to turn out of a Safeway parking lot and a woman in a huge Chevy Tahoe (I'm really not trying to be sexist, just telling the facts) turns in and comes within an inch of plowing into the side of my car! Why? Because she couldn't turn the steering wheel far enough with only one hand while the other was holding a phone to her ear!
Then she just had to sit there with her huge rear end blocking a lane of traffic until I was able to pull out into the far lane (which took forever as she was also blocking my view of oncoming cars...)
Sorry for the rant, this story just kinda set me off today.