Hands-free phone ban for drivers 'should be considered'

[FoxesDeb]

18 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

i think having a 20 second conversation with my mate or my ma saying “on my way to yours, want anything from the shop?” whilst driving is a bit different to having 8 pints and trying to drive home. 

Do you think the loved ones of the poor sod you crash into would agree it was different and therefore acceptable too? 

[Countryfox]

6 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

Having a wank and receiving oral whilst driving is all game though right?

 

I can honestly say that I have never endangered life doing either of the above ...    although I did once  mount the central reservation and knock a few cones flying ...     

[Jattdogg]

2 minutes ago, Countryfox said:

 

I can honestly say that I have never endangered life doing either of the above ...    although I did once  mount the central reservation and knock a few cones flying ...     

Your penis  wont fall off!

[ScouseFox]

14 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

Do you think the loved ones of the poor sod you crash into would agree it was different and therefore acceptable too? 

no, you’re missing the point. 

 

my point is that i can assure you me answering the phone without even moving my hands off the steering wheel, then saying about ten words, then hanging up without moving my hands from the steering wheel is not going to result in me having to explain anything to and dead people’s relatives. because i’m not going to crash. 

[yorkie1999]

So, what are the legal implications of this regarding people who have bought hands free kits or who have spent a couple of grand for a bluetooth option, as was the cost for bmw's and mercedes until only very recently. Do they get their money back?

[Countryfox]

9 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

Your penis  wont fall off!

 

Jatt ...   I’ve got to ask ...    is sex a VERY important part of your life ...

[FoxesDeb]

7 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

no, you’re missing the point. 

 

my point is that i can assure you me answering the phone without even moving my hands off the steering wheel, then saying about ten words, then hanging up without moving my hands from the steering wheel is not going to result in me having to explain anything to and dead people’s relatives. because i’m not going to crash. 

Not sure how you can assure me of that when the evidence and statistics say differently, but hey, you carry on. Explain it to the relatives when you kill someone. I just pray it's not someone I love. 

[turtmcfly]

38 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

Having a wank and receiving oral whilst driving is all game though right?

 

6 hours ago, Fktf said:

You run experiments - usually in simulators.

 

[Strokes]

41 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

no, you’re missing the point. 

 

my point is that i can assure you me answering the phone without even moving my hands off the steering wheel, then saying about ten words, then hanging up without moving my hands from the steering wheel is not going to result in me having to explain anything to and dead people’s relatives. because i’m not going to crash. 

It’s not necessarily about what you’re ability to do it is, though is it? It goes to the lowest common denominator. Some people clearly struggle with all this going on in the car, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. 

[ScouseFox]

2 minutes ago, Strokes said:

It’s not necessarily about what you’re ability to do it is, though is it? It goes to the lowest common denominator. Some people clearly struggle with all this going on in the car, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. 

well then ban them from doing it. add it to the driving test or something. some people struggle with driving full stop, so they’re not allowed to drive. 

 

we dont ban the whole country from driving just because some people can’t do it. 

[yorkie1999]

So, I’m driving home from work, cycle lane on the left of me, some bloke on a pushbike clips the edge of the path and falls off. Made me laugh, and low and behold, he’s clutching a mobile phone. Now who’s fault would it have been if he’d fell the other way under the car in front??

[Mike Oxlong]

Well, if it stops me talking to the Mrs on the drive home from work then I’m in favour. 

[Strokes]

13 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

well then ban them from doing it. add it to the driving test or something. some people struggle with driving full stop, so they’re not allowed to drive. 

 

we dont ban the whole country from driving just because some people can’t do it. 

It's a bit different, you can’t retrospectively test people on mobile phone driving. People who are incapable already have their licenses. It’s an unnecessary luxury.

[ScouseFox]

3 minutes ago, Strokes said:

It's a bit different, you can’t retrospectively test people on mobile phone driving. People who are incapable already have their licenses. It’s an unnecessary luxury.

so is driving at all. everyone should get the bus. as long as nobody is driving the bus, obviously. 

[Strokes]

2 minutes ago, ScouseFox said:

so is driving at all. everyone should get the bus. as long as nobody is driving the bus, obviously. 

It’s not a total luxury, people have driving jobs. But yeah for those working in fixed locations and social use it’s a luxury. I wouldn’t say it’s unnecessary though.

Edited 13 August 2019 by Strokes

[oxford blue]

16 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

So, I’m driving home from work, cycle lane on the left of me, some bloke on a pushbike clips the edge of the path and falls off. Made me laugh, and low and behold, he’s clutching a mobile phone. Now who’s fault would it have been if he’d fell the other way under the car in front??

Cyclists endanger their own lives and others if they ride whist holding a phone; this should have been banned a long time ago. Coming back to the thread, I agree with the recommendation from the MP's. May be fine for majority of conversations but if there is a hazard ahead, you need to concentrate on the road, not be distracted by the conversation. If you're talking to a passneger and just need to stop, they can see the same problem, whereas soomeone miles away can't. In practice, very difficult to police if calling hands free, but would alwats be a contributory factor (at the very least) if there was an accident, when mobile phone records can be checked

[yorkie1999]

14 minutes ago, oxford blue said:

Cyclists endanger their own lives and others if they ride whist holding a phone; this should have been banned a long time ago. Coming back to the thread, I agree with the recommendation from the MP's. May be fine for majority of conversations but if there is a hazard ahead, you need to concentrate on the road, not be distracted by the conversation. If you're talking to a passneger and just need to stop, they can see the same problem, whereas soomeone miles away can't. In practice, very difficult to police if calling hands free, but would alwats be a contributory factor (at the very least) if there was an accident, when mobile phone records can be checked

Be a good job though, mobile phone user spotter, be great on a super bike spotting them on the motorway, you could even do an on the spot fine whilst your moving, contactless.

[Jattdogg]

1 hour ago, Countryfox said:

 

Jatt ...   I’ve got to ask ...    is sex a VERY important part of your life ...

Always but I'm not as much of a perv as some of my sad posts about wanking are. Having a lame laugh really...perhaps with myself

[LiberalFox]

Some good points made. I can also see there's a difference when the call is incoming and you've got a responsibility to answer then it's even more of a problem.

[Bellend Sebastian]

1 hour ago, yorkie1999 said:

So, I’m driving home from work, cycle lane on the left of me, some bloke on a pushbike clips the edge of the path and falls off. Made me laugh, and low and behold, he’s clutching a mobile phone. Now who’s fault would it have been if he’d fell the other way under the car in front??

Even if it's your fault, if you're a motorist that kills a cyclist you've got a less than fifty percent chance of going to prison anyway, so probably not worth worrying about too much

[Captain...]

4 hours ago, ScouseFox said:

no, you’re missing the point. 

 

my point is that i can assure you me answering the phone without even moving my hands off the steering wheel, then saying about ten words, then hanging up without moving my hands from the steering wheel is not going to result in me having to explain anything to and dead people’s relatives. because i’m not going to crash. 

Do you look down at your screen to see who is calling? Even the notification of a call or message takes your attention off the road for a split second and that is all it takes.

 

The latest Black Mirror had a very interesting take on they way companies exploit us to make us addicted to the dopamine hit when you get a notification.

He got a social media notification and that caused him to look at his to phone while driving to see that someone had liked his picture of a cat. Crashed and killed his family because he was addicted to the tiny dopamine hit.

 

I think that we can all agree in emergency situations you would use your phone whilst driving, the problem is if you ban using hands free in your car in those emergency situations you are less likely to be able to make a call safely whilst driving as you would never have done it before, and if you ban the software that allows it then people will use their phone in those emergency situations. As I said before I never use my phone in the car if I had to use my phone in a life or death situation and there wasn't a safe place to pull over, then I probably wouldn't be very safe trying to do it.

[davieG]

17 minutes ago, Captain... said:

Do you look down at your screen to see who is calling?

On that basis you would need to ban radios and satnavs, eating anything, taking a drink etc. Are any of these things more or less important?

 

We’d need to introduce thousands of lay-bys and service stations so that people could stop and carry out these functions.

 

I personally think replacing Zebra crossings with traffic lights was a retrograde step as it made drivers more selfish and yet they still charge through lights on amber and red.

 

The problem with too much too far safety and protection law making is you’re taking away responsibility from people.  So many seem to have the attitude if there’s no law against or making me do something then I won’t do it.

 

Moan finished.

.

 

[Fox1970]

What I don't understand is how a correctly used hands free device is more  distracting than driving with, say, 2 lively and noisy children in the back. 

 

I've been behind countless cars where you could clearly see the driver is distracted, and swerves over their lane etc.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

I can't be bothered to look it up, but I swear there was some scientific research done a couple of years ago and there's a very strong suggestion that the brain recognises when talking on the phone that you're talking to another person but that person isn't nearby, so part of your brain is subconsciously trying to look for that person - which is why a lot of people can't stand still when they talk on a mobile phone. People don't pace about when they are chatting to someone stood next to them do they?

 

I never take calls when I drive, hands-free or not. I find it really distracting, but can talk to passengers without it affecting my driving whatsoever

[Legend_in_blue]

Watched a couple of news items on this yesterday and I wouldn't class what they were describing on the TV as hands-free.  These drivers who stick their mobile phone on the window screen in some sort of cradle are not driving hands free imo.

 

The latest in car systems allow you to keep your mobile out of sight and with the touch of a button on your steering wheel or by voice activation you enable hands free driving.  This was overlooked on all news broadcasts I saw yesterday.  You can even send text messages by voice activation these days without even lifting a finger.  The latest Fords have it for example.  I can't see car manufacturers backing down either now that the technology is out there unless absolutely forced to.