My mate scrolls Instagram when driving. Is it even possible to convince people like that to stop?
February 18, 2026
He's 31 and has been driving since early 20's. Granted, he's not dead yet, but you only get once chance.
Is it even possible to convince people like that to stop? If so, how?
40 comments
Should be reported to the police. Even if he doesn’t care about his own life, he’s putting other people in danger.
Be a grown up and just tell him. You shouldn’t need Reddit for that
The worst thing about this, is you know if something happens, it won’t be him who gets killed. It’ll be someone completely innocent. F your friend.
Swipe it out of his hand, and say “What the very fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Report him to the police. He’s a danger on the roads.
Sadly, the world is full of absolute dickheads behind the wheel who’ve become complacent because they’ve never had an accident, or caused one.
He’ll get ‘convinced’ the moment he kills someone.
Don’t get in the car with him should be a start 🤔
This is absolutely a crime. Refuse to get in the car with him.
If he does it in your presence, take a picture. You can either send it to the police or threaten to do so depending on how he reacts.
He may not be dead yet but he’s going to kill someone else, as surely as if he would drink driving.
I would probably just keep sending him news stories about people who have caused accidents while using their phone at the wheel, sadly you will find plenty. I’m sure he’s already aware of the risks, but likely thinks “oh it’ll never happen to me, I’m more careful than that” etc.
Or I would tell him he’s a selfish arsehole who I don’t want to be friends with any more, and if he gets banged up for killing someone while he can’t take his eyes off Instagram, I won’t be visiting him in prison
“im not riding with you if you keep driving like you dont care if we live or die”
The problem isn’t if he takes himself out, it’s who else he might take out whilst being so goddamn stupid and selfish. It only takes a split second. If I caught him doing it, I’d confiscate it and give him a stiff talking to, but that’s just me.
So he’s going to kill someone one day. Do you want that on your conscience?
Best thing you can do is refuse to travel with him as a passenger.
If he’s an arse about it then he clearly doesn’t care about your safety either, at which point I’d be asking what sort of mate he really is.
Don’t ever get in his car.
Encourage you and your mates who he follows to post photos and videos of phone related RTAs on your Instagram for him to see. Also, the swearing and slapping it out of his hands appeals too.
Call 101 and report him anonymously, let them know that you see him continuously doing it.
It’s wanker behaviour of the highest order.
My brothers girlfriend gambles whilst driving I won’t get in the car with her anymore. I’ve told her it’s wrong but she reckons she’s ok.
Why haven’t you reported him?
“Why are you playing Russian roulette every time you drive?”
Absolutely don’t get in a car with him. Put him onto radio audiobooks anything.
This is just dumb, you are an adult, the moment he starts telling him to pull over and get out.
What a complete prick.
Driving requires full care and attention. I cannot comprehend scrolling whilst safely operating a 2 tonne death machine. He is a ticking time bomb. Report.
I was behind someone the other day and they were watching Youtube on the big screen you get in electric cars. I couldn’t see anyone else in the car & the driver was definitely watching it, I could see them controlling the touch screen.
i’m not that fussed whether your mate becomes dead, i’m more concerned about the people he might take with him
Your friend is a fucking idiot.
There’s a very simple answer to this one. Report him. He will end up killing or hurting someone else. How is he able to even TRY and defend that?
Let the police sort him out.
Not sure I’d be a friend for long with him tbh, that’s putting his, and everyone else who shares the road with hims life at risk.
Report him to the police
Agree with several others here. You give him one chance to stop by not getting in that car with him if he’s going to use his phone. If he continues to use it, then you report him to the police. It isn’t worth mucking around giving chance after chance.
He WILL kill someone being so stupid and selfish.
They usually change after they kill someone.
Report him. And also… walk away from this person in the knowledge that you absolutely do not owe anyone with such little regard for your wellbeing anything on a social or emotional level.
I hope the worst that ever happens to him is the loss of a vehicle. But I suspect it will be much worse.
FFS as a biker please PLEASE get him to stop or report him before he kills someone like me. I’m so sick of having avoid death because of arseholes on phones when they’re supposed to be driving
Don’t get in the car and report him to the police if he won’t stop after you asking him to, before he kills someone.
Report it to the police. Should be arrested for being so stupid
He will eventually kill someone. Maybe you if you’re in the car with him at the time.
There’s a good short documentary (around 25 mins) our police force did when an HGV driver using his phone killed 3 people (and a dog) on the motorway, you can find it on YouTube its called Deadly Browsing.
If his attention span ain’t that long, here’s a 40 second clip of the impact (its censored, but still, TW)
If that doesnt do the trick, let me introduce him to another local innocent victim.
This is Zachary Blades. He was killed alongside his aunt Karlene when a driver on his phone hit them. Zachary was found 164ft from the scene of the crash.
He’s going to kill your Mum, my Mum or someone else’s Mum, Dad, sister, brother, girlfriend, boyfriend, baby….he’s a fucking lunatic and you need to report him, then report him again, then report him again…
Contact 101 from a phone box if you can find one, or make a random FB profile and DM your local cop shop.
*”Just saw a bloke on (road) (mates description) on his phone in (car description) with this registration.”*
Obviously, be aware when he is driving and what roads he’s on and make the timing/location appropriate.
idc if the prick kills himself but they always seem to survive while wiping out a whole family. I mean, he won’t stop, but you should report him anyway. Then stop being his friend.
Uuuugh those people are the absolute worst. I used to work in a job that included driving the work vans. We were hiring, so I took so I took a dude out on a trial shift. He did ok on the technical stuff, but on the way home pulled out Instagram and was just… scrolling. I asked what he was doing, and instead of taking the hint, he just said “hah, driving is just so boring isn’t it?”. I “offered” to switch at when it was next ok to pull over, and did the rest of the drive. Unsurprisingly, he did not get the job.
I was so shocked. He obviously didn’t think there was anything wrong with the behaviour at all?? To top it all off, the “boring” bit he was doing was in central London, so not exactly free of potential hazards.
He wouldn’t be my mate anymore
In seriousness, this kind of disregard & lack of care for other people’s safety is a HUGE red flag. Don’t think it stops there… it takes a different kind of psychology to do stuff like this.
He literally thinks his little scrolls on Instagram at the wheel are more important than other people’s lives
Yes. Report him for dangerous driving. “He’s not died yet” won’t bring back someone else’s loved ones when the inevitable happens.
People like that should be permanently banned and you need better friends for sure.
Just ask how many babies he’s willing to kill to keep up to date on insta. If he goes into the back of someone with a belt on he’s fine. The kid that’s concertina’d in the back of the other car won’t be.
You can’t just have a quiet word. You have to say point blank how disgusted you are with his behaviour. Also how will you feel if you don’t say something and he kills someone tomorrow?
40 comments
Should be reported to the police. Even if he doesn’t care about his own life, he’s putting other people in danger.
Be a grown up and just tell him. You shouldn’t need Reddit for that
The worst thing about this, is you know if something happens, it won’t be him who gets killed. It’ll be someone completely innocent. F your friend.
Swipe it out of his hand, and say “What the very fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Report him to the police. He’s a danger on the roads.
Sadly, the world is full of absolute dickheads behind the wheel who’ve become complacent because they’ve never had an accident, or caused one.
He’ll get ‘convinced’ the moment he kills someone.
Don’t get in the car with him should be a start 🤔
This is absolutely a crime. Refuse to get in the car with him.
If he does it in your presence, take a picture. You can either send it to the police or threaten to do so depending on how he reacts.
He may not be dead yet but he’s going to kill someone else, as surely as if he would drink driving.
I would probably just keep sending him news stories about people who have caused accidents while using their phone at the wheel, sadly you will find plenty. I’m sure he’s already aware of the risks, but likely thinks “oh it’ll never happen to me, I’m more careful than that” etc.
Or I would tell him he’s a selfish arsehole who I don’t want to be friends with any more, and if he gets banged up for killing someone while he can’t take his eyes off Instagram, I won’t be visiting him in prison
“im not riding with you if you keep driving like you dont care if we live or die”
The problem isn’t if he takes himself out, it’s who else he might take out whilst being so goddamn stupid and selfish. It only takes a split second. If I caught him doing it, I’d confiscate it and give him a stiff talking to, but that’s just me.
So he’s going to kill someone one day. Do you want that on your conscience?
Best thing you can do is refuse to travel with him as a passenger.
If he’s an arse about it then he clearly doesn’t care about your safety either, at which point I’d be asking what sort of mate he really is.
Don’t ever get in his car.
Encourage you and your mates who he follows to post photos and videos of phone related RTAs on your Instagram for him to see. Also, the swearing and slapping it out of his hands appeals too.
Call 101 and report him anonymously, let them know that you see him continuously doing it.
It’s wanker behaviour of the highest order.
My brothers girlfriend gambles whilst driving I won’t get in the car with her anymore. I’ve told her it’s wrong but she reckons she’s ok.
Why haven’t you reported him?
“Why are you playing Russian roulette every time you drive?”
Absolutely don’t get in a car with him. Put him onto radio audiobooks anything.
This is just dumb, you are an adult, the moment he starts telling him to pull over and get out.
What a complete prick.
Driving requires full care and attention. I cannot comprehend scrolling whilst safely operating a 2 tonne death machine. He is a ticking time bomb. Report.
I was behind someone the other day and they were watching Youtube on the big screen you get in electric cars. I couldn’t see anyone else in the car & the driver was definitely watching it, I could see them controlling the touch screen.
i’m not that fussed whether your mate becomes dead, i’m more concerned about the people he might take with him
Your friend is a fucking idiot.
There’s a very simple answer to this one. Report him. He will end up killing or hurting someone else. How is he able to even TRY and defend that?
Let the police sort him out.
Not sure I’d be a friend for long with him tbh, that’s putting his, and everyone else who shares the road with hims life at risk.
Report him to the police
Agree with several others here. You give him one chance to stop by not getting in that car with him if he’s going to use his phone. If he continues to use it, then you report him to the police. It isn’t worth mucking around giving chance after chance.
He WILL kill someone being so stupid and selfish.
They usually change after they kill someone.
Report him. And also… walk away from this person in the knowledge that you absolutely do not owe anyone with such little regard for your wellbeing anything on a social or emotional level.
I hope the worst that ever happens to him is the loss of a vehicle. But I suspect it will be much worse.
FFS as a biker please PLEASE get him to stop or report him before he kills someone like me. I’m so sick of having avoid death because of arseholes on phones when they’re supposed to be driving
Don’t get in the car and report him to the police if he won’t stop after you asking him to, before he kills someone.
Report it to the police. Should be arrested for being so stupid
He will eventually kill someone. Maybe you if you’re in the car with him at the time.
Report it here https://www.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/making-a-road-traffic-incident-report/
There’s a good short documentary (around 25 mins) our police force did when an HGV driver using his phone killed 3 people (and a dog) on the motorway, you can find it on YouTube its called Deadly Browsing.
If his attention span ain’t that long, here’s a 40 second clip of the impact (its censored, but still, TW)
[https://youtu.be/BWHwVqKkmhs?si=C0hQ14MHLZ6UIah6](https://youtu.be/BWHwVqKkmhs?si=C0hQ14MHLZ6UIah6)
If that doesnt do the trick, let me introduce him to another local innocent victim.
This is Zachary Blades. He was killed alongside his aunt Karlene when a driver on his phone hit them. Zachary was found 164ft from the scene of the crash.
https://preview.redd.it/zi0rfqnbmakg1.jpeg?width=410&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f64a3f6961ff505e811feb2c21d530316cc30f5f
He’s going to kill your Mum, my Mum or someone else’s Mum, Dad, sister, brother, girlfriend, boyfriend, baby….he’s a fucking lunatic and you need to report him, then report him again, then report him again…
Contact 101 from a phone box if you can find one, or make a random FB profile and DM your local cop shop.
*”Just saw a bloke on (road) (mates description) on his phone in (car description) with this registration.”*
Obviously, be aware when he is driving and what roads he’s on and make the timing/location appropriate.
idc if the prick kills himself but they always seem to survive while wiping out a whole family. I mean, he won’t stop, but you should report him anyway. Then stop being his friend.
Uuuugh those people are the absolute worst. I used to work in a job that included driving the work vans. We were hiring, so I took so I took a dude out on a trial shift. He did ok on the technical stuff, but on the way home pulled out Instagram and was just… scrolling. I asked what he was doing, and instead of taking the hint, he just said “hah, driving is just so boring isn’t it?”. I “offered” to switch at when it was next ok to pull over, and did the rest of the drive. Unsurprisingly, he did not get the job.
I was so shocked. He obviously didn’t think there was anything wrong with the behaviour at all?? To top it all off, the “boring” bit he was doing was in central London, so not exactly free of potential hazards.
He wouldn’t be my mate anymore
In seriousness, this kind of disregard & lack of care for other people’s safety is a HUGE red flag. Don’t think it stops there… it takes a different kind of psychology to do stuff like this.
He literally thinks his little scrolls on Instagram at the wheel are more important than other people’s lives
Yes. Report him for dangerous driving. “He’s not died yet” won’t bring back someone else’s loved ones when the inevitable happens.
People like that should be permanently banned and you need better friends for sure.
Just ask how many babies he’s willing to kill to keep up to date on insta. If he goes into the back of someone with a belt on he’s fine. The kid that’s concertina’d in the back of the other car won’t be.
You can’t just have a quiet word. You have to say point blank how disgusted you are with his behaviour. Also how will you feel if you don’t say something and he kills someone tomorrow?