I do not agree with the hands free version neither.
It hinders the drivers less physically speaking, but I am convinced that it is not the physical limitations that cause the danger.
While on the phone your attention is taken away from the car and environment, and you are less aware of your surroundings. When you are having a conversation with people in the car your attention can remain focused on your environment and driving much more easily.
No to phones!
I never call and usually do not answer incoming calls while driving (as the phone is mostly off it does not prove too difficult to achieve). I also try not to call people who I know are driving.
Also ban cell phones from the streets, especially hand free... These people shouting and laughing alone in the streets sure do look like weirdos.

Hands-free saves the driver from having to turn around to talk (to the passengers) But no, even hands-free is pushing it imo. It exists so you can say 'I'll call you back in a minute'.

I do it,, if somebody rings me i answer it and have a conversation, phone call distracts me just as much as smoking a fag while im driving, taking a drink, even talking to passengers. Funnily enough, my only crash when driving was being distracted and slagging my mate in the passenger seat for picking a terrible song on the ipod. Phone doesnt distract nearly as much. only thing that stops me doing it is if im in an area where coppers are likely to be.

used to text aswell when i had my old phone, but with the iphone its too difficult because it doesnt have proper buttons so cant touch type.i just phone instead

I dont know how people get so distracted by being on the phone, You dont look at the phone while your on it so you still have the same awareness about whats around you, and you still have full controls of the pedals and partial control of the wheel, but if need be the phone can very easily get dropped into the lap and the hand put straight onto the wheel. if people get so distracted while on the phone that they smack into a car stopped in front of them, should they really be driving in the first place?

Quote from Michael Denham :

but it makes me wonder how we got to thinking like this.

Exactly.

Other things that you shouldn't do whilst on the phone:

Stand at a pedestrian crossing
Look around you. Every car going by is expecting you to step out at any moment. Some even stop and wait for you to cross whilst you jabber pointlessly into the ether.

Buy things
Pay up or get out of the queue, you annoying little prick.

Sell things
Look, if I'm going to give you my money, then I expect you to at least look me in the eye. You don't even have to say anything like "Thank you", or "Cold for this time of year isn't it?", just don't chat to your mate as if I'm a distraction you could do without.

Watch films at the cinema
This is your last warning. Do it again and I'll push a ballpoint pen as far as it will go into your other ear.

Play MP3s
Music was never meant to be worn like a vest, or used as a way of sealing you off from the outside world, but at least a walkman kept your crappy taste in music private. Buy a set of headphones you cheapskate.

I'm sure there's more....

Quote from Ian.H :

Hands free is fine, IMO. No different to having a conversation with a passenger.



Regards,

Ian

Exactly what I was about to say!

You're on the same track as me with that post, nihil

I'm up to the stage in cinemas where I would take the phone off the person and keep it until the movie was over. And if I was in retail, I wouldn't serve someone who was on the phone. As for playing music the world, that's just stupid. They're not built with good external speakers, so you're getting crap quality compared to headphones anyway.

It's all ignorant and it pisses me off. But that's not really as relevant as driving since that endangers other people too.

It's factual - the more stuff you're doing at once time, the more your brain has to deal with and your decision-making ability is impaired. There have been studies on it.

Talking on the phone is different to talking in-person because the fact you're using a device makes it more prominent in your mind, meaning it's higher in your list of priorities. If you're holding the phone, you have to deal with the question the person just asked you, holding the phone and coming up with your answer as well as dealing with the cars around you, the people, the stereo, your passengers, etc. Even if you don't consciously notice it, it does delay your reaction times.

And a passenger knows that they can shut up if they see you busy with something; someone on the phone won't know.

....oh yes, I forgot... Don't use a hands free kit while you're walking. Everyone thinks you forgot to take your Olanzapine. And if you have one of those bluetooth headset things... Take it off when you get out of the car. Everyone knows you have a shit job so you don't need to display a public reminder.

Quote from GrIp DrIvEr :

i say you can talk on the phone while driving, but not text. if your talking on the phone and your still paying attention to the road, then that might be okay.

Depends on the content of the call. If you're stressed out by the conversation , (eg it's an urgent work call or you're having an argument with your partner), then your full attention will not be on the act of driving.

I have a very simple view on this. A car is a potentially lethal weapon. When you're driving one you should be doing one thing and one thing only and that's concentrating on driving.

Personally I would go as far as removing all sat navs, radios, CDs etc etc from cars, reduce the sound insulation so that you can hear the tyres on the road more clearly and generally make cars less comfortable places to be in so that everything is focused on driving while you're in one.

But then I'm an ex Motorcyclist so I have first hand experience of just how unobservant and removed from concentrating on driving the vast majority of car drivers are. On a motorcycle not concentrating whilst riding can get you killed, (nearly always by a car driver :really. Modern cars are far to much like sitting in your living room watching the road via your tv screen IMO, it makes people overly complacent and drive overly agressively because they feel invulnerable. If I had my way I would do everything possible to take away that feeling of invulnerability from car drivers.

Quote from GrIp DrIvEr :

and, what if it was their spouse? or a best friend? or thier boss?

As humans we survived for hundreds of years without the need to be instantly contactable at all times. We didn't need it then, and we don't need it now. I can't think of a single scenario where it is imperative that you must talk to someone when they call, (if it's a real life endangering emergency then the person should be calling the emergency services anyway not you). People can wait.

Quote from Dajmin :

Talking on the phone is different to talking in-person because the fact you're using a device makes it more prominent in your mind,

More than that, in talking to a passenger, you are talking to someone in the same physical space. What my other examples show is the way that talking on a phone takes you out of that space into another space that is very different to your immediate surroundings.

Quote from ColeusRattus :

Also, while I see the point in not restricting it (at least with a hands free kit), that point is somewhat utopian. Sadly, most people who inhabit this earth are complete idiots, and giving them a possibility to harm themselves (actually, not that bad an idea) OR myself (very alarming) leads to one thing: they're gonna cause harm, and lot's of. So it boils down to either having an annoying yet purposefull restriction, or a considerable amount of idiots killing themselves and others.

Sad but true.

I voted handsfree.

But I do not think it's the same things as talking to a passenger. A passenger knows when you're navigating a tricky junction, or are involved in something that has taken your attention away from them. Plus you don't usually have to put up with reception issues with your passenger.

Someone on the end of a phone will most likely wonder why you've gone quiet, and keep going "hello? hello? can you hear me? Bloody mobiles". By which time you or someone else could be dead.

But sometimes people do have to make calls in a car - reps couldn't manage now without them (without the businesses restructuring again as they did when mobiles came popular), and it is useful to be able to say "sorry, I'm going to be a bit late" now and again.

Texting should never be allowed in a moving vehicle. I don't see the issue (unlike the law) with texting in a parked car but with the engine running (e.g. in a layby).

It would be better if all cars now had built in bluetooth handsfree that works with all models. It would save having to wear one of those stupid over the ear things. I frequently ask customers if they've got cancerous growths on their ears when they walk in with them stuck on the sides of their heads. They quickly remove them then.

I had a nightmare journey a few years ago with my boss.

She offered to drive me somewhere so I accepted. As sooan as we got in the car I put on my seatbelt as always. Not only did she not put hers on, she then tried to get me to take mine off saying they were 'silly'. She then spent the entire journey talking on her mobile, and once half-heartedly put one arm through the belt as we passed a police car.

I spent the entire journey braced against the sides of the footwell and hanging onto the seat.

well, it's not allowed to be on the phone while driving in Portugal, but since most of us are rulebreakers, I don't really have a choice in mind. Whatever, I just voted for the 3rd one, as no one knows when an important person (i.e. your parents, GF or wife, even your boss) is calling.

Or, it should be not allowed to speak in mobile phone when car is MOVING!
It makes me happy when I see people turn out on the side of the road to make a call, that shows that they are responsible and take actions to do what they can do minimalize the risks. While other drive like idiots while talking in mobile phone while having thoughts completely a other place. No offence but women drivers in mobile phone are horrible, and I hope they'll hit a tree and get's shaken some common sence into. Every day I see idiots driving like maniacs while laughing, smiling and doing shit in the phone while they don't even thinks of careing about what's happening on the road.

Did I mention my granny almost lost her life because a lady hit her while she spoke in the cellphone? Anyway, and this happend on a good looking straight road, witch proves that it's not a good combination.

I don't say that everyone drives bad, some people can do this perfectly fine and have no problem talking and driving, but for the safety of us other RESPONSIBLE inviduals IMO it should be a law against using mobile phones in a moving car.

Quote from Senninha25 :

(i.e. your parents, GF or wife, even your boss)

As Syphoon said, that doesn't matter at all.

If your boss tried to do anything with regards to your job because you wouldn't talk to him whilst driving I think an employment tribunal would have something to say about that. If your boss sacked you because you wouldn't rob a bank for him I think you'd say something about it.

Simple solution. End conversation before starting car. Phone off while driving.

People did survive sometimes hours at a time without talking to people, back in the day. Just because you have a mobile phone doesn't mean it should be superglued to your ear 24/7. God, mine doesn't ring for weeks on end because I only use it when I have no other choice. Email is free. My home phone is free in the evening.

Nobody has ever died from not being able to have a conversation with a random pleb for a few minutes. *

* "random pleb" was put in to avoid smart-arse comments about emergency services.

Quote from Michael Denham :

I just wonder how we got ourselves into this feeling of needing to be able to be reached 24-7.

I think for most people they just want the attention - they get lonely if someone isn't texting them.

I leave my phone at home quite a lot when I can't be bothered with it, and I don't miss it. It only ever leaves the house with me if I'm meeting someone and I want to make sure I don't miss them.

Quote :

....oh yes, I forgot... Don't use a hands free kit while you're walking. Everyone thinks you forgot to take your Olanzapine

hehe, this reminds me of a time - and as this is a racing forum i'll mention the scene too, at the last corner of LeMans. No cars on track, but there was this guy sat on the tyre wall talking to himself and staring at the floor. This was back in '99 and I don't think I had never seen hands free outside of a car 'till then, I went up to him and put my hand on his shoulder and asked him if he was ok. I bet that guy has always over compensated ever since.

I dont really see the problem with talking on a hands free kit in a car, but I dont have one and dont plan on ever having one when I do get a car again. I let my phone ring and find somewhere to stop to call back, or wait until i'm at my destination.

Although I don't do hands free, I dont see what the issue is. I heard someone say that attention is more prominent because you're talking on a device, I just don't think that would be true for me.

I have a hands free bluetooth thing that was in my car when i bought, sorry, was given it (epic win!) and i never use it, as it cuts the speakers out like it should when it auto answers, but it doesnt cut out the pre out to the amp, result.. nothing but bass from the subs in the boot.

My phone is often on the passenger seat when im driving, and on the off chance that it happens to ring , i do this....

Press the answer button, shout, "driving, ill ring you back" then they hang up pretty quickly, and if they don't hang up, they waste their credit!

Quote from Becky Rose :

I heard someone say that attention is more prominent because you're talking on a device, I just don't think that would be true for me.

There was some experiment done to compare talking to a passenger to talking on a phone and the results were pretty conclusive - phone conversations are a bigger distraction than you maybe realise.

I can imagine why though. It's harder to communicate over the phone.

Although I don't drive I think that being on the phone whether it's hands free or not should be illegal. A while back I was in the passengers seat of my dads car on the motorway, and this woman was on her phone. She was oblivious to the fact that we were in the lane to the right and she tried to changes lanes. If my dad didn't see her and move over quickly (amazed at his reactions) her car would of hit my passenger door.

Another time I was in the car with my mate at the traffic lights and this man was on the phone in a car next to us (Not handsfree). Both our windows were open and I looked at him as if to say 'What the hell are you doing'. He asked 'Whats the problem?'. I replied with 'Your phone is, try not to kill anyone please..' And we drove off. I dislike anyone who has the arrogance to say that driving while on the phone is ok, but these people are always stupid anyway.

Ban all forms of conversation in a car...full stop! That includes the most dangerous road users there are...


Q: Whats more dangerous than a woman in a car?
A: TWO women gossiping in a car!


(Besides, when I'm driving I have the stereo so loud I cant hear anybody talking anyway! )