BRAKE are calling for hands free devices to be banned!!

[truman]

But the police would still need to pull them over & spend time checking. What would the hit rate be? It seems hard to enforce without annoying a lot of innocent drivers & wasting quite a lot of police time.

 

How do they spot drunk drivers? If using your phone is supposed to affect you even more than DD then it shouldn't be too difficult to spot a phone user..

[anywebsite]

How do they spot drunk drivers? If using your phone is supposed to affect you even more than DD then it shouldn't be too difficult to spot a phone user..

 

If they're driving that poorly the police can probably get them for something already, like driving without due care.

[RollingJ]

One problem with all this talk: there are few (if any) traffic police, except on motorways, and even they are sometimes parked, awaiting calls. So not much chance of being 'caught'.

[spilldig]

It doesn't really matter if it,s hands free or not. If you are talking to someone it takes away some concentration from driving, even if you are chatting to someone in the vehicle. As much concentration as possible should go into driving.

[truman]

It doesn't really matter if it,s hands free or not. If you are talking to someone it takes away some concentration from driving, even if you are chatting to someone in the vehicle. As much concentration as possible should go into driving.

 

Maybe ban people from taking their kids in the cars next then?

[davyboy]

I could be the odd one out but if when driving I'm listening to the radio or my wife is wittering away and I have to concentrate more than usual on the traffic conditions I find that when the situation is back to normal I haven't a clue what was on the radio or what my wife was saying.

Could prove I suppose that I can't multi-task.

[Hots on]

How is driving with a hands free kit more dangerous than driving whilst talking to a passenger? Listening to and faffing with a sat nav? How much does a radio get in the way ?

 

I'm not saying break are wrong I'm just wondering how much of a risk hands free phone calls are compared with the above.

 

The hands free kits are the thin end of the wedge, if they get their way on that they so will go for Sat Nav's, radio's and even ban chatting to passengers. These campaigners are all the bloody same, they need to be given short shift.

[tinfoilhat]

Yes, it not only can be dangerous but it is

 

Of course every individual is the best driver in the world, and would never be affected by using a hands free phone whilst driving.

 

It's just every other driver increases their chances of failing to identify a hazard as much, and indeed more, than being at the legal drink/drive limit, when using a phone in a car, handsfree or handheld.

 

It's the mental act of imagining the person, as they speak to you on the phone, that seems to be what uses up so much cognitive function that it leaves precious little left for driving and hazard awareness.

 

Whilst talking on any phone, drivers are significantly worse at controlling their speed than drivers above the legal limit for alcohol.

 

Another difference between talking to a passenger and a person on the phone, is that passengers are aware of the driver's situation and respond accordingly, whereas someone on the phone to a driver will have no idea of their current circumstances, and may even be unaware that the other speaker is simultaneously negotiating busy roundabout in heavy rain.

 

The fact is we excoriate people for drinking and driving because of the danger to other people. But because we're all incredibly important people, and need to be contactable at all times, we rationalise and ignore the dangers of mobile phone use when we drive. It's a problem for other people

 

If you want to see how hazardous/distracting smoking/eating/adjusting the satnav is in comparison to talking on the phone in the car, or drink driving, then the research I linked to earlier will give you all the data you can eat.

 

I couldn't find any test where they compared driving and having a conversation on a hands free phone and having a conversation with a passenger.

[Penistone999]

I can't understand why smoking whilst driving hasn't been banned. There can't be anything more dangerous.

 

Having to second guess lunatic cyclists on the road is far more dangerous .

Having buses just pull out in front of you is far more dangerous .

 

Can we also ban them ?

[Phanerothyme]

I couldn't find any test where they compared driving and having a conversation on a hands free phone and having a conversation with a passenger.

 

Sorry, that's another TRL paper.

 

 

For their review of all their driver distraction studies - download this one - http://trl.co.uk/online_store/reports_publications/trl_reports/cat_paper_insight_reports/report_driver_distraction_from_in-vehicle_sources:_a_review_of_trl_research.htm

The project reviewed observation-based, experimental and opinion-based research and identified a range of research gaps. In terms of experimental research, this Insight Report describes two driving simulator studies that were conducted to examine how mobile phone use affects driving performance. One study showed that reaction times were significantly increased when using a mobile phone compared with a conversation with a passenger, using in-vehicle controls and without any simultaneous tasks. The second study showed that mobile phone use resulted in significantly higher reaction times, even when compared with driving at the UK legal limit for alcohol consumption.

 

There's an interesting bit of research showing that children arguing in the back can reduce reaction times by up to 13%. But if you search the site for driver distraction and mobile phone, you'll get plenty of results and quite a bit of research. You have to register, but it's free and you can download all their research papers.