Should mobile phones be banned on public transport?

London Underground SignImagine the scene, you’ve been on a packed tube train for around half an hour, you spent ten minutes pressed up against some big guy’s armpit, you were kicked by a kid in a pram (prams on tubes should be banned before phones) and you finally get a seat when someone sat opposite you answers a phone call and SHOUTS non-stop for the next 20 minutes. Eurgh it’s enough to drive even the calmest of people into an angry little public transport induced rage.

Normally we’d just give the offending individual evils and tweet about how rude they are, but it seems that some people have had ENOUGH.

Due to too many situations like this, and the public’s general inability to answer a phone when they’re travelling without shouting, a number of campaign groups are calling for some stricter rules to be put in place when it comes to mobile phone use on London’s buses and tubes.

It’s not just a few angry groups either, a recent study by mobile comparison site GoodMobilePhones found that more than 22% of commuters would welcome an outright ban on mobile phones on the tube.

Now, I’m undecided about this. Obnoxious shouty phone people annoy me as much as the next person, but what if it’s an important call you need to take, or you like to use your commute to get in touch with family because you’re just so busy the rest of the time? I don’t want to find myself being led down a small corridor to Room 101 just because my mum called for a quick catch up.

The study also showed that instead of a ban, half of those questioned like the idea of quiet tube carriages. Yes, this already works quite well on trains, but on the tube? What if you REALLY had to answer a call? Would you just have to hop across to the next carriage like some kind of super hero?

Instead of imposing bans I think we all need to take a few deep breaths and accept the fact that some people are loud and rude, whether they happen to have a mobile phone in their hand or not.

[Image via]
Becca Caddy

7 comments

  • Curse those “people like you.” Mixed thoughts – suspect that manners should become a GCSE. Seems fair. If only they hadn’t gotten rid of finishing school.

  • England is enough of a nanny state as it is, another law that can’t truly be enforces isn’t the solution. Possibly if the English weren’t so polite and just said something to the person who was so offensive.

    What next banning music via earphones because of the idiot who has his up so loud the whole carriage can here what song it is?

    • reception on the London underground tube system is only there for the most part because of the localised transmitters. The law could be enforced by simply turning them off and forcing non-reception or setting up the transmitters for emergency only calls.

  • And herein lies the problem. People like you, think you are so important that you just HAVE to take that call. Guess what, you don’t! The world managed just fine before mobile where invented.

    If you are too busy to contact you family at anytime other than when you are on a tube then that just goes to show how much you really care for your family. Very sad indeed.

    • Totally Agree. I was about to post along the same lines.

      If someone calls you and you are unable to answer it, and its important, they’ll either leave a message or call you back again later on.

      There are very very few instances where you need someone right now, that second. The time it takes to travel on public transport, you’ll beable to answer or listen to your voice mail afterwards.

      If your calls were so important that you needed them phone right there and then, maybe public transport at that time isn’t the best idea because in those very small instances where you do, I’m guessing the noise levels and reception quality isn’t the best to have a hearty conversation either.

      In saying that, I don’t have a problem myself with people using the phones for calls, after all its what they’re for at the end of the day. What does annoy me is people trying to play music on the loud speaker and all you hear is the sound of spoons tapping on cups. Bring back boom boxes lol.

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