Arrogant drivers texting at the wheel are idiotic and risking lives W

HAT’S wrong with people who continue to text and drive?

I’m not a violent person but it makes me want to grab these people by the scruff of the neck, pull them out of their seat and scream in their faces.

Of course I wouldn’t be able to get their attention quickly enough to get them to pull over because Snapchat or WhatsApp is clearly more important than the road ahead of them.

It’s probably not happening more now – it’s just that I’ve noticed it more since becoming a parent, and I see it all the time.

I’ll be walking along the pavement with Luke and because I keep him on the inside, furthest away from the traffic, I notice all these people hunched in weird positions at the wheel.

As they go past I see why: one hand is on the wheel and they are slumped to the other side holding their phone below dashboard level and looking at the screen. First of all, it’s incredibly dangerous. Second of all, if you’re one of the people who does this because you think no one can see what you’re doing, you’re an idiot.

It’s obvious what you’re doing and you look ridiculous.

But worst of all, you’re risking lives because you can’t wait to see what witty retort someone has texted you or what time everyone’s meeting for drinks.

On the odd occasion, I’ve had the chance to gesture at people while shouting: “Get off your [expletive] phone!” But you don’t always get the chance. The other day Pete came home and said a young woman in the car behind him had started to drive really close, and when he looked in the rear-view mirror he saw she was on her phone and not paying attention.

Our son was in the back of Pete’s car and he’s six. So if she’d caused a bump it would have been awful.

I’m by no means a perfect driver myself.

I badly damaged the driver’s door on my car the other day when I hit the concrete pillar in a car park while reversing out of a space.

The concrete pillar was fine but my poor car and my confidence was dented. Accidents will happen. But why increase the risk by playing with your phone?

One of the idiots that went past me the other day while I was walking with Luke was actually laughing while looking at his phone.

Would he have been laughing if he’d mounted the kerb and mown us down?

Don’t these people watch the news or are they so arrogant they think they’re still in control?

This week a football agent was found guilty of dangerous driving after he killed a road worker on the M6 and paralysed another.

He denied he was going too fast and said he’d stopped using his phone by the time the crash occurred.

But the court heard that in the time before the crash he exchanged texts and 25 WhatsApp messages.

He was also travelling at 81 mph.

Earlier this year the penalties for using a handheld phone behind the wheel were doubled but I believe it’s had little or no effect.

The thought of six points and a £200 fine is enough to make me break into a cold sweat, but the arrogant minority are clearly not bothered one bit.

I can’t understand the mindset. Drink-driving has rightly become socially unacceptable because of the heartbreaking consequences. The consequences of texting and driving can be just as bad – but somehow it’s not seen as criminal in the same way. Why is that? Do these people think their lives are so important that the law doesn’t apply to them? Does the law only apply before and after you’ve read the supremely important message about what happened between your friend and the person they met last night?

As a former crime reporter I’ve spoken to a lot of police officers over the years, and I was told once that those caught on a hand-held phone behind the wheel will always have a good excuse, i.e. their mum has just been diagnosed with an incurable illness.

But even if this were true it’s still no excuse.

Nothing is so important that it justifies risking your own life – and the lives of others.