frontline

So how do we solve the problem of driving and being able to talk on your cell phone at the same time. Well that seems easy enough, make it “hands-free”. Is it really that simple?(any opinion or suggestion may be recognized) thanks!

heartbomb

yes...as it frees up your hands. i use once, since i have a manual transmission, plus it's good to keep both hands on the wheel.

no...it's still a huge distraction. i try to avoid long conversations while driving. most driving conversations tend to be me checking in with my wife, seeing if we're out of milk or eggs.

hotshot

I bought one the other day (about $20), only to find that the plug on my cell phone was "off" -- meaning that I had to jiggle the plug for it to work right! So, I'm still in the market . . .

BTW, any new news on absolutely free cell phone reverse lookups -- besides the obvious (e.g., http://www.cell-phone-usa.com?

heartbomb

No, I don't agree that using a handsfree device makes driving and talking that much safer. When you're in the car talking with a person sitting in the car with you, chances are you're discussing something that does not require an aweful lot of concentration...basic chit chat to pass the time as you ride along. When you are on the phone talking, chances are it's going to be someone calling with a problem and you're going to have to focus on the conversation to give them an informed decision. Talking with people in the car is distracting too, even though they are not likely to ban people riding with you for a while

One example is my old roommate. When she drove and was watching the road, she was an excellent driver that I'd ride with any time. I followed her one day in my car while she was engaged in a conversation and to be honest, I'd have rather been following a drunk person. When she hit a raised manhole cover (road construction) and bent her rim, it proved my point. If you're not distracted, how can you miss something that large directly in the road in front of you when you're driving at 40 MPH?

The poster just above is much like me, I only answer quick calls while I'm driving, and most people really don't like to talk to me on the phone while I'm driving because they have to repeat so much of the conversation multiple times because I'm paying more attn to the road than them. It's not that I'm a bad driver at all, but the opposite, I'm an excellent driver, because i keep my focus on the road and not distractions.

One more thing to think about...when was the last time you heard of a motorcycle wrecking because they were distracted? They cannot talk on the phone, eat food, mess with the radio (OK, many touring bikes can do this), talk with passengers, look at directions, do make-up or any of the other distracting things that people in vehicles do. Aside from speed demons and show offs, I'd rather ride with bikers any day of the week because there's not much to do besides pay attention to the road (like all drivers should.)

frontline

I'd like to adopt that SA law here. On Navy bases here around Norfolk Va you can only talk on a cell phone on base if it's handsfree and NO earbuds. The Army bases only allow earbuds at the moment.

My problem is the Army is not allowed to use Bluetooth for cellphones because of the lack of encryption, at least to Army standards. I think I'll make this a general post and see what kind of replies I can get.

hotshot

I think the best hands free kits are the bluetooth ones where you can answer your phone on your steering wheel (newer cars). Here in SA, it's against the law to talk on your cellphone while driving, yet many people still do it. If you still have to manually answer the phone it defeats the purpose. Bluetooth headsets also work better since you can answer the phone by pressing a button on the headset without touching your phone. With some of them you can do voice dialling as well which makes things easier.

heartbomb

I think that concentrating on speaking already reduces ones concentrating on driving :P

frontline

once ur in a convo, ur not concentrating on the road

hotshot

hands free can be nice for letting you concentrate a bit more on the driving , but the actual existence of a call that you are a part of ... does not eliminate the danger , on the conterary , it's the major reason for the cause of an accident ... the hands free feature itsn't going to solve that.... you should try to avoid making calls at all while driving... that's at least what I do

heartbomb

I don't think hands-free is THE sol'n. A conversation that is involved or emotional would certainly be distracting. Even if not so, particularly when traffic is congested and you have no margin for error, it's foolish to allow anything to take your concentration away from the task of driving. It requires looking ahead as well as glancing in the side and rear view mirrors about every 10 seconds to process the big picture, to be fully aware of what is happening around you and to be "on alert" to negotiate defensive maneuvers in a split second if necessary to avoid collision or rim-bending obstacles. Most people are too compelled to continue conversation rather than to say...hold on a moment while I concentrate on traffic, or traffic is crazy, I'll call you back. Persoanlly, I am not going to put my well-being/safety at risk nor that of my passengers for the sake of a cell call. But then again, I remember what life was like before cell phones. We managed to cope somehow.