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Sotosound · Aug 14th, 2019, 08:07

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.

Aug 14th, 2019, 08:07	#8
Sotosound Premier Member Last Online: Today 18:48 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Aylesbury	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.