What you're View of a ban of Hands free mobile phone use

[Psycho Sonny]

Guys do you think they should bring out a law to ban hand free mobile phone use in cars ?

I can see a lot of people are not going to agree with this specially with just about all newer cars these days having hand free built in

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49320473
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/driving-phone-hands-free-ban-uk-laws-a9055131.html
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1165163/phone-driving-law-ban-hands-free-UK

what they need to do is just ban mobiles in cars somehow.

i see at least 3-4 people everyday driving whilst looking and playing on their mobiles. swerving all over the roads, going a snails pace, etc then when you pull up beside you see why; their head is looking down at their laps.

or you need to stick cameras in peoples vehicles that watches them whilst they drive and records random clips and uploads them to dvla / insurer / police, etc.

also you may as well ban smoking whilst driving too and drinking coffee. i'm waiting for it one day i'll see someone with a fag in their mouth, coffee in one hand and a mobile in the other.

 

[tom_nieto]

also you may as well ban smoking whilst driving too and drinking coffee. i'm waiting for it one day i'll see someone with a fag in their mouth, coffee in one hand and a mobile in the other.

Sounds like a normal day in Rome!

 

[Meridian]

Has there been a study to see if fully handsfree phone calls are more distracting than having a conversation with a passenger in the same vehicle?

Dozens of them, and yes they are. This has been investigated to death and yes:

a) There is no difference between the distraction of hand-held and hands free (having one hand on the phone is not the dangerous bit).
b) Both are far more distracting than passengers.

The problem is that every driver thinks they are god-like and not distracted. Yes, you are. I should also point out that legend says that the only reason that hands-free was allowed was because the police can't spot those at a distance so the law would unenforceable for hands-free users. Which remains the case.

 

[Howard]

Has there been a study to see if fully handsfree phone calls are more distracting than having a conversation with a passenger in the same vehicle?

In my opinion they certainly are. The number of times I see someone driving erratically behind me who is quite clearly on a phone call.

I do agree with the sentiment, but I also agree that it's totally unenforceable.

 

[theone8181]

What's scary is that while driving with a phone is distracting, the number of people that drive poorly without using a phone is scary.

 

[Begbie]

Has there been a study to see if fully handsfree phone calls are more distracting than having a conversation with a passenger in the same vehicle?

Yes, there was an article in the book ' The Invisible Gorrila' that explained why talking to someone who isn't present is the dangerous part. Not how we do it, i.e the motor skill part. But the actual social distraction is the part that causes our minds to wander and lose concentration.

I tried to find the bit, but I would need to skip through the book again.

Found some snippets;

https://edithpiaf.livejournal.com/42216.html

Sounds like a normal day in Rome!

I've seen a truck driver eat a bowl of ceral, and a van driver read a book.

Both in Cyprus. If you seen anyone not on a phone call, it was suprising.

 

[Semple]

Has there been a study to see if fully handsfree phone calls are more distracting than having a conversation with a passenger in the same vehicle?

Or even singing along to the radio etc...

Pointless because it's completely unenforceable

Exactly this, as others have been saying, holding a mobile while driving has been an offence for many many years, and they're still struggling to enforce it. How on earth will they be able to determine if someone's using a built-in hands free on their car. - They could be muttering to themselves, they could be singing to the radio, they could be talking to other passengers, frankly it would be impossible to tell.

And that would be unfair on passengers, no? I just think the law needs enforcing properly as it stands. Plenty of idiots twitfacing whilst driving.

I agree, they need to enforce the current law about driving with a mobile more strictly, and even bring in harsher punishments.

Has anyone actually seen any statistical analysis to show what %'age of accidents have been caused whilst the driver was on a hands-free device?

I can see the good intentions behind an overall ban, but there's absolutely no point in having a ban if there's zero chance of enforcing it. Kinda like driving in the middle lane of a motorway when the inside lane is free.

 

[Nasher]

But surely they would need to ban speaking at all in cars then?

 

[Dyson]

But surely they would need to ban speaking at all in cars then?

That would be amazing, peace and quiet would be bliss!

 

[200sols]

They need much heavier punishments for people who flout the currant ban as well, start banning people from driving for 10 years and it will soon stop.

 

[Jamauk]

If they ban mobile phone use then smoking should also be banned, rather than banning smoking the ruling brought out is so complicated and confusing about how a driver could smoke if a passenger was over a certain age and so many other aspects of that law rather than a straight ban on smoking in vehicles. That could also be passengers too as a smoke filled car I would have thought is more of a distraction than using hands free, totally unenforceable I know, a passenger without a licence - PC Plod: "You sir have just earned yourself six points on your not licence and a fine of £120".

Both though are difficult to enforce, as has already been mentioned a driver could be singing to the radio, shouting at another driver or any other reason they need to move their lips. Something in a car to block a mobile signal would be a safety risk also as mentioned, it would block phone signals a fair distance away - another car has an accident and the driver or passenger of any car involved could attempt to call emergency services but someone else's car was blocking the signal.

 

[Funky-Melon]

Absolutely pointless banning them. I hate drivers using their phones while they drive but modern car infotainment systems are a much greater distraction IMO.

Most Audi, BMW, Volvos etc, have great big slab screens now, some completely operated by touch (Volvo) which require you to take your eyes off the road to adjust things you could before in older cars, via a knob/button you could touch feel.

Seems ridiculous to me.

 

[BananaDunka]

Can't ban cookies though.

 

[Alibaba99]

Can’t see them ever doing this: far too many businesses rely on it. I would struggle to do my job without it and I’m not even in a driving role.

Our company policy, which has been in place for several years, is no calls whatsoever when driving for company business and the recommendation is that mobiles should be turned off for the duration of the trip. This policy is in place for all sites, regardless of the country they are located in and the local laws in place.

 

[Rimsy]

Our company policy, which has been in place for several years, is no calls whatsoever when driving for company business and the recommendation is that mobiles should be turned off for the duration of the trip. This policy is in place for all sites, regardless of the country they are located in and the local laws in place.

Same here. Our company has banned it for about a year and guess what? The ban is ignored and generally viewed as H&S gone mad

 

[carlmeyer]

I can see both sides but I will ALWAYS support safety over practicability.

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[Psycho Sonny]

hands free use is absolutely fine. it's the hand use that is the issue. i've seen maybe 3 traffic cop cars in the past month. if you saw 3 per day and they were pulling folk over and doing them then you would soon see it stop. until then people will just continue.

 

[One More Solo]

hands free use is absolutely fine. it's the hand use that is the issue. i've seen maybe 3 traffic cop cars in the past month. if you saw 3 per day and they were pulling folk over and doing them then you would soon see it stop. until then people will just continue.

How can you confidently make such a broad brush statement when all the evidence suggests otherwise?

 

[Gaygle]

I'm against it, mostly because we have plenty of other actions to take regarding road safety that will have much more signficant impacts that we aren't doing, which suggests that road safety isn't actually the motivation here.

Tinkering round the edges while ignoring major unnecessary risks isn't actually going to save many lives, it smacks of 'we should do something, and this is something' rather than genuine evidence based policy making.

This pretty much sums up my view also ^^