Is It illegal To Read Your Phone While Cycling In London
I was just trying to cross the road and saw a young lady about twenty, riding towards me on a bicycle reading her mobile phone which was held in one hand and balanced on the handlebars. She was wearing a helmet and steering with one hand.
I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this post and received this answer.
No, it’s not explicitly illegal to read your phone while cycling in London, as the specific law prohibiting phone use while driving doesn’t apply to bicycles. However, it is very dangerous and you can still be prosecuted for the offense of careless cycling if your actions endanger yourself or others, with potential fines of up to £2,500.
In the past, I’ve used mobile phones, in ways that might become illegal.
- Several times, I’ve exercised a horse with a Nokia 6310i phone in my pocket, so that, if I fell off, I could call for help. I must admit, that I have received and made a few calls from the back of a horse. But in all cases, it was a well-behaved horse, that would stand quietly in a safe place.
- I once with prior arrangement of UK Air Traffic Control requested an Airways Join on a mobile phone at Ipswich Airport. But my second pilot that day, was a fully-qualified airline pilot.
I used to enjoy flying light aircraft and I do wonder sometimes, if I could still do it, after a gap of thirty years and a serious stroke? Obviously, I’d make it legal with an instructor in the right-hand seat.
The Arrogance of Samsung And/Or Google
I have been shut out of my messages on the phone by the arrogance of Samsung and/or Google.
They want me to change to a new piece of software and all I get when I try to get my messages is an oriental figure.
I have just restarted the phone and it appears to have gone as dead as a dodo.
They may think they are making progress, but my Nokia 6310i of twenty years ago, was much more useable and reliable.
At least it works as a phone and runs the apps I need.
I am seriously, thinking of giving up a mobile phone.
After all, they all die or get stolen within six months.
Annoying Smart Phone
Are smart phones all they are cracked up to be?
I’ve recently bought myself a Samsung S3 Mini smart phone, so how do I like it?
It does the three things that I want it to do, which is make and receive calls, send and receive text messages and check the weather, news and sport on the Internet to a good standard.
I quite like the text message interface, as it enables me to do things, like send long texts to Radio 5 Live with ease, by typing them on my computer and then sending them to the phone for forwarding.
I don’t use any Apps, as the sort of App-like applications I need, I do on my computer.
But it has two main faults.
Starting it up is a nightmare and usually takes more than a few seconds.
And then there is of course battery life.
It also tries to lead me to use applications and things I don’t want. I bought a phone not an advertising medium!
Touch the wrong place and you can get lost.
If I’d designed something as poor as that, I’d be disgusted with myself.
At least though, it’s better than a Junkberry.
But as has been said often about people. Must try harder!
I still keep swapping my sim into my Nokia 6310i, when that would be a better phone for the day.
My Birthday Present To Myself!
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to go back to the only mobile phone, I’ve ever been comfortable with; a Nokia 6310i.
My Birthday Present To Myself!
It arrived today and after charging it up, I can’t understand, why I didn’t buy another one earlier!
It does the things I need, like make and receive phone calls and texts and store useful pieces of information.
It’s also comfortable in your hand, in a way that modern phones just aren’t.
I got it on the Internet for £90, which may seem a lot for a twenty-year-old phone.
But then there is no substitute for good design.
A Phone For A Tenner From O2
One of my Nokia 6310i’s has packed up again. So I thought I’d buy a cheap Pay-as-you-Go phone that will take my contract sim.
Three Nokia Phones
It’s the phone on the left, with the one that failed on the right. It cost me just £10 rom the O2 shop at the Angel.
Incidentally, the one in the middle had been in the drawer for something like six months. I pulled it out, fitted the sim and it worked immediately. There was even a little bit of charge left in the battery.
As the lady in the shop said, those old phones have wonderful batteries.
After Bendy Buses We Are Getting Bendy Phones
Apparently, companies are working on mobile phones that can be folded and rolled up. It’s here on the BBC, where they refer to them as bendy phones.
It’s an interesting idea, but what will the battery life be like, as any reasonable battery would be substantial and pretty rigid?
I’ll stick with my Nokia 6310i.
Sendola
I like this little web site application called Sendola. I saw it on Leon‘s site and it enables you to get details of the company to your phone. In Leon’s case it gets the address of the restaurant.
It even worked with my Nokia 6310i. But with a smart phone you get a map as well.
Sendola is even used by St. Paul’s cathedral, so God must get directions on their tablet.
Who Needs 4G?
I was one of the first users of a mobile phone, many years ago. Today, the BBC are reporting a big meeting about the next generation, 4G
But I have not even got onto 3G, just staying with a good old-fashioned phone; a Nokia 6310i, that gives me text messages and calls.
The only thing, it cant do that I need, is put up a skeleton topic on my blog for editing later when I get home. If I needed to, I could tweet from the phone.
4G is only a way to get more money out of the gullible.
Nokia’s Critical Handset Launch
Not my headline, but one on the BBC’s web site, that links you to this story.
Sadly, it’s not a new version of the legendary 6310i, that many want, but some smart phone that they don’t.
It’s apparently based on Windows 8. Come to think of it what’s with Vista that I use.
I’m no technophobhe, but developments in hardware and software should be like men and women. As people have developed, the next generation is always perfectly understood by the previous one.
A Better Way To Pay By Credit Card?
There are certain things, I don’t like where money is concerned.
The first is smart-phones, as they are just status symbols, beloved of the light-fingered. So if anybody suggests that I need those to do things like buy a train ticket, a coffee or a pair of knickers, or even replace my rail ticket then I say a big no!
I don’t like too to always have to carry more than one payment card. At present, I usually carry two; my Freedom Pass for transport in London and usually my John Lewis/Waitrose credit card for purchases. I would like to be like the Queen and not carry any cash, but as I do like coffee, which is almost as good as milk for my throat, I’ve always got a few coins in my pocket. So I have a small folder with these cards, my Senior Railcard and a few of my business cards in my pocket. My wallet stays at home most of the time, when I’m in London. I did lose the folder once and within a few hours, the bus driver had phoned me saying he’d got it and I could get it from the garage.
So I was rather intrigued, when I saw in the Sunday Times, an article about Square, a payment company started by one of people who brought us Twitter. You upload your picture, a recording of your name and credit card details to a web site and then when you go into say Starbucks, their iPad app recognises you and your name recording is the password. You can get your receipt as a text message to any phone as new as a Nokia 6310i. I knew I was right about smart phones being dead end technology. Nothing will persuade me to get one. If for instance, a shop, a theatre or a train company said I must have a smart phone to purchase their product, then I will make sure that I take my business elsewhere and give them all the bad publicity they deserve.
I can’t wait to walk into Starbucks on Upper Street, say “Anonymous Widower” and get my cappuccino.
The Anonymous Widower 