Banning of Mobile Phone Use in Cars
 

Today the News has been full of MP's calling for the total ban on Mobile phone use in cars irrespective if used hands free or not.

Whilst I agree wholeheartedly with the banning of using them handheld I feel total banning is a step too far.

Taking it a step further do we also ban the emergency services from using radios hands free ?

Thoughts ?

Yes I do use my phone in the car, no I've not got a holder for it when I get in it's either a) In the centre console, b) in the door pocket or c) In whatever jacket I was wearing when I got in the car. The phone links to the car using Bluetooth & I get all the function I need from that.

Yes I do stream music from either my phone or a tablet but again I set it up before I set off & just use the available controls in the car to change track etc.

No I don't live stream my journey, update or check my social media etc. whilst on the move.

The problem must lie with the manufacturers, or at least progress. I seem to recall first eating then drinking was banned whilst on the move - yet car makers built-in cup holders! I realise nibbling at a chockie bar isn't particularly dangerous but tossing ones head back to get the last dregs from your tin of fizz could well be. Nobody mentions that though.
Similarly re-programming ones satnav seriously diverts ones attention to what might be happening outside, but firms employing door-to-door delivery drivers for parcels or food set such mammoth daily schedules for their poor drivers they simply have to multi-task otherwise they'd be out of a job.
So with any sort of mobile phone - we managed before they were invented so why do we HAVE to use them whilst on the move now? As I heard on the news this morning, just pull over/divert off the motorway and ring your caller back - simple.
However, that doesn't answer your query: it all seems to boil down to us having to accept yet another case of the UK being a country of exceptions. You can't do whatever EXCEPT if..... The only winners are the legal boys who get paid whether the courts agree or otherwise when you are trying to argue your case out in court.
An interesting scenario: I'd be interested to hear what others might add to this.

P

Personally I think its rediculous with an end goal to push everyone towards autonamous vehicles.

They might as well fine people for picking their nose while driving or just fine anyone for changing the temperature setting or any of the adjustments in the car, as all these things require the redirection of someones attention.

Fit cars with more gadgets to distract/entice the driver and then fine them - ££££ its a win/win situation for the government and manufacturers.

Personally I never use a phone hand held in the car. If I need something done hand held, I'll either stop or get the wife to do it. On my own, the phone as with others connects to the radio via bluetooth and I can make and receive calls and texts. Anything else can wait.

The number of people I see in the morning at traffic lights reaching for the phone the second they stop and actually using the like of facebook, playing a game etc is unreal. I see this whilst I am stood waiting for my bacon butty.

Also the number of drivers I see driving like bell ends, last minute deliberate cut up, not indicating, using traffic as a slalom course etc whilst watching a TV show or doing a video call with the phone directly infront of them on the windscreen is just taking the ****.

There are many things to distract a driver two of which I can't really comment on are mobile phone use[I turn mine off when I get in the car and turn it back on when I stop for a "comfort break"-long journey-or when I get where I'm going-local journey.the second is these stupid screen things they fit like an afterthought usually high up on the dash for drivers to play with-my cars aren't new enough to have one fitted nor would I want one.One thing I think to be downright dangerous[and it seems to be getting more common round here]is having a dog on the drivers lap usually with its front paws on top of the drivers door door card looking out of the door window:speechless-smiley-5

Meant to add that it's all well and good making new laws/expanding the scope of current ones-it makes for good headlines as they're seen to be caring/doing something.However the chances of getting caught are quite slim[in the grand scheme of things] due to the lack of police patrols.Or are we advocating increasing security/surveillance cameras such as the facial recognition ones in use at Kings Cross?

Don't bother me, I don't use the phone in the car. It rings out and I return the call when stopped if I want to.

Sat nav when I use it is low on the screen in line with the rear view mirror, set before moving and glanced at when verbal instructions given, I do dislike the new ones ability to warn of upcoming bends, it's distracting and I'm a driver, I can see the road.

As for delivery drivers, not a job I would want, poor buggers chasing their backside all day every day, same for taxi drivers, no phone no job.

The police are the reason I can legally use my ham and CB radio hand held on the move, while it is not recommended it is not illegal precisely because the police /emergancy services have to remain in communication with their Base via their radios so it was excluded from the law on the use of mobile phones in cars.

Paul.

The argument that could be made about using a handsfree phone is that it diverts part of the driver's thinking away from the task of driving. It could therefore be seen as a mental distraction. To an extent there is a valid argument in some respects, although I personally stop speaking or ask the caller to wait if, for instance, I'm about to negotiate a junction or similar.

The problem that I see with that viewpoint, however, is that a passenger can be many times more of a mental distraction than a mobile phone. So what do we do about that?

What I wouldn't do in my car would be, for instance, using an electric shaver as I whizz down the fast lane of the motorway. I saw this once and was both amazed and horrified.

I would also prefer not to have to use a touch screen in order to control anything. It requires too much focus, especially if nothing happens on first attempt.

Voice control on the other hand works well and can be used without taking one's eyes off the road. It can also be used as and when mental bandwidth allows. The car won't shout at you if you pause for a moment.

A real consideration here is that we will always be multi-tasking when driving a car, irrespective of whether or not we are using a handsfree phone. For instance, if we're driving a manual car and we're negotiating a staggered junction, we're using both feet and both hands independently of each other, i.e. clutch, accelerator, steering and indicators, and we're also looking behind, ahead, and to both sides. Perhaps we need to ban driving across staggered junctions.

And what of rally driving, wherein the passenger and their input is so vital?

Personally, I can see touch screens eventually being viewed as dangerous, but I can't really accept passengers, staggered junctions, navigators (satellite or human), or handsfree phones being treated in the same way. This is an insult to our intelligence.

Perhaps domhart10 has got it right. If so, then someone, somewhere, who has the goal of making autonomous vehicles the only way to travel, is testing the water to find the line of least resistance towards achieving that goal. If so, then they'll work out that banning handsfree phones isn't the line of least resistance because the arguments are too easy to dismantle.

I've had cars with hands free in for a good number of years now. It is a requirement along with aircon, DAB, parking sensors etc (yes I know, 1st world issues). I would never use a mobile in my hand, text etc, but hands free, I'm fine with that. We live in a computerised, joined up world now. Expecting people to cut off completely when in a car now is unrealistic. Hands free offers the best and safest option for something people are going to do anyway. It is a realistic solution, perhaps not ideal but certainly realistic.

I think that's to fail to appreciate the very different nature of the distractions they pose.