Mobile phone hands-free devices and driving?

Question

Whilst I agree that some people can be ignorant and dangerous whilst talking on a mobile phone when driving and need to stop doing it and deserve the fines when caught I hear some of the bluetooth headsets can now be illegal too??. I heard if you have to press a button to accept the call then it will be illegal to use?
If this is true then the world is going mad. They say it is a distraction whilst driving pushing a button on your ear??? Then what about CD/Radio's, Satnavs, and come to think of it, children in the back and passengers talking to you, or even scratching your ear if you have an itch. Should all these be banned too? The biggest distraction I can see is continually looking down at your speedo to make sure you dont go slightly over the speed limit.
This law (if it is true) is insane. Hands-free are not dangerous at all and someone who would be distracted by it would be distracted by anything.
What do you think? Are they going too far (as usual)

Jeri x

Answer 1

There are so many do-gooders in society that like to champion a cause and brim with glee when they become law that they fail to realise what complete arses they look, and how they are crushing what little freedom we have left. While I agree you shouldn't hold a phone to your ear while driving I see the banning of hands free devices ridiculous. Talking on the phone is no more dangerous hands-free than talking to a passenger in a car. In fact I would say it was more dangerous talking to a passenger as you are more likely to glance at them when talking. Those who blindly champion the banning of things are normally the people who haven't got a clue about real life or have nothing else in their life to occupy themselves with. The guy who said a family was nearly wiped out by a guy on the phone, that could just have easily happened with the careless driver looking down to put a cassette or CD into the radio, or change channel on the radio, or momentarily look into the rear view mirror as a distraction he just passed. It is crazy to ban hands-free mobile phone talk. Most people on hands-free can quite safely talk and drive while only a minority would not keep their eye on the ball. Those people will be dangerous on the road whatever they are doing. What else will be banned to help criminalise all of us? These pathetic laws do nothing to help the image of the police to the general public, we see them now, as cash generators for the councils and Treasury's coffers.
1984? We scoffed at George Orwells totalitarian society but each and every year something more is done to head us in that direction. The only thing George got wrong was the year.

Of course they are going too far. We are being smothered by ridiculous laws, even banning our children from games in the playground in case they might get a scuff or fall. The do-gooders intefere with everyones lives and try to scare us with their pompous hot air and the governments champion them because they know it will lead to easier and easier fines and criminalisation of otherwise innocent people rather than get out there and sort out the real things in life like immigration and gun crime.
Somebody please stop the planet... I want to get off...

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

I look at all sides of the arguement but there have been many studies that clearly show that using a phone while driving - hands free or not - increases the risk of having an accident. When I was working as a nurse, I saw an entire family come through the hospital who had been hit by a driver on a phone. Parents were both killed, little boy died on the operating table & other child lived but is a vegetable. Now - you tell me that using is phone is safe! No matter what we all might think, we should consider the statistics & take this matter seriously. Driving does need a lot of concentration to do it safely & avoid accidents. I wonder how any of us would feel if a relative of ours was injured or killed by someone who flouted this law. Please don't deny the statistics. We use various parts of our brains whilst driving, talking etc & when using a phone, it is different to just talking to someone who is in the car with us. We use different parts of our brains as the message is coming in through on ear only. I was overtaken yesterday by a driver who was texting. Chop off his bloody hands if I had a chance. Sheer madness. Please THINK about this law. I know that some are real killjoy laws & we can't see the sense in it - but I do believe that this law hasn't gone far enough.

Answer 4

I look at all sides of the arguement but there have been many studies that clearly show that using a phone while driving - hands free or not - increases the risk of having an accident. When I was working as a nurse, I saw an entire family come through the hospital who had been hit by a driver on a phone. Parents were both killed, little boy died on the operating table & other child lived but is a vegetable. Now - you tell me that using is phone is safe! No matter what we all might think, we should consider the statistics & take this matter seriously. Driving does need a lot of concentration to do it safely & avoid accidents. I wonder how any of us would feel if a relative of ours was injured or killed by someone who flouted this law. Please don't deny the statistics. We use various parts of our brains whilst driving, talking etc & when using a phone, it is different to just talking to someone who is in the car with us. We use different parts of our brains as the message is coming in through on ear only. I was overtaken yesterday by a driver who was texting. Chop off his bloody hands if I had a chance. Sheer madness. Please THINK about this law. I know that some are real killjoy laws & we can't see the sense in it - but I do believe that this law hasn't gone far enough.

Answer 5

I recommend this handy hands free device:
http://www.truthorfiction.com/images/headset.jpg

On a serious note, I think that is absolutely ridiculous, and that common sense has completely gone out the window. People need to be focused when they drive, but pushing a button is not going to divert your focus.

While there at it, don't sneeze in the car either. Now that should REALLY be outlawed, as I read you can be distracted for up to 11 seconds then! Edited to add I totally did not read that 1st post before I wrote about it, and didn't realize that was a law! I am surprised they don't recommend allergy sufferers have a restricted license in hay season then!

Just crazy, you're right Jeri.

Answer 6

The whole world is going mad with rules and regulations. OK holding the phone to your ear is not to be condoned but if fixed to a phone holder in the car it is no worse than, as you say, chatting to a passenger, kids or even shouting at them. You are no longer supposed to eat anything whilst driving unless you can surrepticiously slip a sweet in your mouth. So watch out because the next thing wil be no driving if you have a cough or cold as you may cough or sneeze.

Answer 7

We are living in a jobsworth society, where ever petty official is free to start some campaign or other. Their jobs depend upon building empires and creating brilliant new "initiatives."

It is very re-assuring to know that that special breed of driver, "The Police Patrolman," is, as usual, exempted, and that presumably extends to the other emergency services.

It's even more re-assuring to know that everytime you step on a plane, the pilot will be talking to ground-control, his co-pilot, the cabin-staff and making announcements to the passengers.

Then there are Formula One drivers doing 200mph and chatting away to the team-manager, rally-drivers talking to their navigators at 120mph, people controlling oil-tankers whilst talking to Harbour Masters and Pilots, and people dangling things from cranes while talking to people on the ground, hundreds of feet below. The list is endless......

Makes you "Think" what these jobsworths actually contribute, when so many drivers on the road are half-blind.

Answer 8

i agree with you but if this government can ripe us off with yet another tax because that is all a fine is thay will do and yes we will find very soon that smoking,listen to the radio CD talking will all be a fineable offence
as for satnavs how will the police or other emergence services cope with out then not that i care but thay will be the worst offenders as thay will be looking at the satnav for direction and not looking were thay are going and thay are going at speed
as normal thay are going to far yet again

Answer 9

I remember reading a study and watching a demonstration of people driving while haveing a conversation on a cell phone. There were just as many blunders talking on hand helds as there were talking with hands free. Either way it is a distraction. So maybe there is a lot of sense to the law.

Answer 10

I do believe it is going to far, unless of course we are a socialist government and last time i checked we were not. I dont see why there needs ot be a law, you can only go so far with trying to get people to do the smart thing.If an oficer sees someone driving like an idiot, PULL THEM OVER. Its not our place to tell people when they can have a phone conversation.