I'm a regular cyclist, and I've never had a close call with a stationary car.
By all means complain about people using their phone when the car's moving. Worrying about stationary vehicles seems like crying wolf to me.
By all means complain about people using their phone when the car's moving. Worrying about stationary vehicles seems like crying wolf to me.
The problem isn't when the cars are stationary -- it's when they start moving.
When stationary at a traffic light etc there's a hella lot of situational information that's actually quite important. e.g. are there cyclists coming up from behind me? are they on my left or right?
Fiddling with a radio or phone for an entire red light can mean zero situational awareness when setting off.
At a junction where the lights filter left, then ahead, then right. I know the sequence well, it's been my walk to work for 15 years. One car stopped in the 'ahead' lane, the lights are red. Roads are otherwise empty, it's 6am. The pedestrian signal has gone red, but I know it's still 'safe' because the left filter's next, and the left lane's empty.
I received a glancing blow from the car in the 'ahead' lane that went (ahead) when the left filter went green. They blew a red light, and nearly took a pedestrian with them.
Being distracted at a red light is an issue, because you look up from your phone, see the green, and have a small panic because you're "late" - and react to the green light, short-circuiting the sensible thought processes like .. is that green for my lane. is there someone in front of me. Is it actually safe to enter the junction. Just "oops, go".
(and yes, that was a legal cross for me, "jaywalking" doesn't exist here - humans have more rights than cars.)