Friday, November 02, 2007
Arrogant minister used mobile phone while driving.
Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, has been criticised by road safety campaigners after claiming he was taking an important work call when caught using his mobile phone while driving. The 37-year-old MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill was stopped on the Tyburn Road in Birmingham in July after being spotted talking on the phone while behind the wheel. In a letter to magistrates he said that he was taking a call about deportation but accepted that he should have pulled over to do so. Mr Byrne, a former police officer, was fined £100 with £35 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. He was also given three points on his licence.
...The arrogance of this politician amazes me. He did not even have the courtesy to appear in front of the magistrates by pleaded guilty by letter and claimed his telephone call was important. I suppose Liam Byrne also considers his job and life is so important that the law and best practice do not apply to him. His time may be so important that he cannot be bothered with a provincial magistrates court. His attitude stinks and I fear he is not alone. I notice daily that the vast majority of drivers who flout the law and use a hand held mobile telephone whilst driving have expensive cars. They are not driving old, cheap or small cars but new, expensive and large cars.
There is no need to take any telephone call whilst driving, even with a hands free kit. Telephone calls are a nuisance and a distraction. Men are not good at multi-tasking anyway and with driving you only get one chance to get it right. My employer will not discipline any driver for not using the telephone whilst driving. I barked at one Service Support operator for telephoning me the other week over a trivial matter that would have been solved by common sense if she had not telephoned me. Nothing is so important that the telephone call must be taken whilst driving. If a caller were to annoy me at work then I simply turn the telephone off.
MP's are supposed to represent us in government and should be leading role models not arrogant self proclaimed important people.
Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, has been criticised by road safety campaigners after claiming he was taking an important work call when caught using his mobile phone while driving. The 37-year-old MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill was stopped on the Tyburn Road in Birmingham in July after being spotted talking on the phone while behind the wheel. In a letter to magistrates he said that he was taking a call about deportation but accepted that he should have pulled over to do so. Mr Byrne, a former police officer, was fined £100 with £35 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. He was also given three points on his licence.
...The arrogance of this politician amazes me. He did not even have the courtesy to appear in front of the magistrates by pleaded guilty by letter and claimed his telephone call was important. I suppose Liam Byrne also considers his job and life is so important that the law and best practice do not apply to him. His time may be so important that he cannot be bothered with a provincial magistrates court. His attitude stinks and I fear he is not alone. I notice daily that the vast majority of drivers who flout the law and use a hand held mobile telephone whilst driving have expensive cars. They are not driving old, cheap or small cars but new, expensive and large cars.
There is no need to take any telephone call whilst driving, even with a hands free kit. Telephone calls are a nuisance and a distraction. Men are not good at multi-tasking anyway and with driving you only get one chance to get it right. My employer will not discipline any driver for not using the telephone whilst driving. I barked at one Service Support operator for telephoning me the other week over a trivial matter that would have been solved by common sense if she had not telephoned me. Nothing is so important that the telephone call must be taken whilst driving. If a caller were to annoy me at work then I simply turn the telephone off.
MP's are supposed to represent us in government and should be leading role models not arrogant self proclaimed important people.
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