Tony Ruscoe Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Just remembered posting this a while back: Originally posted by Tony Ruscoe They did some tests on TV a while back to prove that when you use your mobile phone, you don't concentrate on the road properly. The basically had a conversation with someone over a mobile phone (using a hands free kit) whilst they were driving around a short course. Afterwards, they asked questions about the conversation to see whether the driver had been paying attention. What I seem to remember them discovering was that all the drivers drove fine but could hardly recall any details about the conversations. What this proved was that it was the conversation that suffered, not the driving. They tried to use this as proof that your concentration drops when when you're on the phone... erm... well, that's true - what they didn't really make a big deal of is that their driving didn't suffer! Anyway... IMHO I think that driving with proper in car hands free kits should be fine. I'm a little more uncertain about a normal personal hands free kit though, as those are a bit "fiddly". BTW... isn't it illegal to drive without due care and attention anyway? So why ban something that's already covered by law? From here: http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?threadid=2260 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 As a hands-free kit occasional user, I can definitely say that I would fail any observation test afterwards concerning my journey. I dont remember getting to where I am, that sort of thing. So I would disagree with that inserted quote, from whoever. I dont know why it is different with a thing in your ear, to having someone sitting in the passenger seat, but in my view it is. I try only to use it when I have to, perhaps now I will learn not to use it at all I dont think it is safe, speaking as a perp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 It seems to be down to this. When you are speaking on the phone, hand free or otherwise, your reaction times take a massive hit. It has been speculated, although not proven, that this is because the mind works very hard to imagine (empathise with) the person at the other end. The reaction time hit is in the same order as that of moderate (still illegal) drink driving. Having a non-hands free merely compounds the issue by keeping one hand off the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Hope they actually inforce this and stop people using there mobiles whilst driving altogether. Fines should be bigger. I don't use mine at all in the car and if it rings i stop if poss or ignore it til it is poss ible to do so. Also don't agree with doing anything else whilst driving either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t020 Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Originally posted by fuzzy purple Hope they actually inforce this and stop people using there mobiles whilst driving altogether. Fines should be bigger. I don't use mine at all in the car and if it rings i stop if poss or ignore it til it is poss ible to do so. Also don't agree with doing anything else whilst driving either. Changing radio stations? Changingt the air-con settings? Putting down the windows? etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrH Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Air Con? Now there's fancy! Opening the windows is normally enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchemist Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 not using indicators??, must follow you alot then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 I meant like eating, drinking,and smoking, other use of hands, stuff that doesn't involve actually driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t020 Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 Originally posted by fuzzy purple I meant like eating, drinking,and smoking, other use of hands, stuff that doesn't involve actually driving. Yet these things don't take away much more, if any, concentration compared to 'driving' tasks, such as windows up/down, tuning the radio, adjusting the seat, etc etc. I often eat at the wheel, things like crisps, sweets, etc, and can honestly say that checking the speedo constantly to make sure I don't drift a few mph over the limit with cameras lurking by is a lot more detrimental to my concentration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 Originally posted by fuzzy purple I meant like eating, drinking,and smoking, other use of hands, stuff that doesn't involve actually driving. As t020 pointed out, most of these things can be done without too much problem or safety hit. but using a phone, hands free or not, has been repeatedly shown in research to have a larger detrimental effect on reaction times than drink driving. It's the speed of thought, not hands on the controls that governs how alert you are to a rapidly changing situation (like someone popping out in fornt of you without warning as you overtake them) This is severely affected when speaking to another person on the phone and not if they are next to you. It has been speculated that because the person you are talking to is actually in the car, they are quite often watching the traffic too and times their conversation when they see you are trying to concentrate. The person on the end of a phone has no idea of the situation is in, and will happily drop bombshells down the phone at you regardless. All that quite apart from the empathy/body language factor. If you are speaking to someone on the phone, you are actually thinking about them, recalling their face, gestures, expressions etc. If you don't know them already, you try and build up a picture of who they are. THis is the crucially distracting factor that is peculiar to using a phone. You don't need much brain power to open a chocolate bar, but you need loads to conjure up a person from a disembodied voice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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