You’re not going to like it …
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36475180
University study shows that using hands free is as equally distracting as using a hand held mobile - I’m not surprised really, I have never known what is so distracting about holding a phone in one hand; before auto boxes one hand spent most of the time on the gear stick. If a phone conversation is distracting ? then it has to cover hand held and hands free.
Same as listening to music then…shall we ban all stereos too■■?
Ok, so what’s next?
Ban radios, cd.s, picking your beak, scratching your arse? All equally as distracting, so let’s ban them all. Think of the revenue in fines.
Ffs! 
Professional drivers the volunteers? no thought not.
One size fits all, lowest common denominator rules just the way everything is going… whoda thought it the typical numpty who probably can’t drive for toffee can’t drive for toffee whilst simultaneously talking on the phone…
xichrisxi:
Same as listening to music then…shall we ban all stereos too■■?
Is there any evidence to show that listening to music is distracting ?
When you are lost or struggling to find where you are looking for; do you turn the radio down or even off? or maybe even wind down the window? If you do then you are subconsciously trying to heighten your concentration - so there could well be an argument that it does reduce concentration.
But stereos aside this is about mobile phones, if hand held is deemed to be dangerous then surely hands free must be as well! I am not against phone use, CB, listening to loud music, listening to stories or interesting sciency programmes when driving in quiet road conditions, but in busy situations when you should be at 100% may be all should be banned. (now that would be a complex law to write and police)
I read all this this morning and the report is a disgusting load of crap by some university prof trying to make a name for his self, this is my opinion for these reasons.
Did the test involve a mobile phone, no it didn’t
Did the test use a hands free device, no it didn’t
Did the test involve a vehicle , no it didn’t
did the test involve any driving , no it didn’t
According to the report I read on the BBC website the test was conducted in a room with a car seat and a steering wheel and a loud speaker three feet away. Hardly real world is it.
This professor wants the law changed partly on this report. If he wants this he should have made the test as realistic as possible, this is a joke.
To take this a step further all vehicles should be a single seater with no radios or entertainment centres, no sat navs or any kind of distractions. Failing that the driver should be sitting in a enclosed cell with no contact with the rest of the vehicle. You should under no circumstances carry any children in the car because to a parent they have to be the biggest distraction of all.
lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/ … hones.aspx
In a study published this week in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, researchers from the two universities produced statistics which raise doubts about the veracity of claims connecting mobiles to car crashes.
Lead author Saurabh Bhargava, Assistant Professor of Social and Decision Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University, and his London School of Economics and Political Science colleague Vikram S. Pathania, say their findings reveal that increased mobile use by drivers has no corresponding effect on crash rates.
The pair used mobile phone and crash data from 2002-2005, a period when most mobile carriers offered pricing plans with free calls on weekdays after 9 pm.
Identifying drivers as those whose mobile calls were routed through multiple cellular towers, they first showed that drivers increased call volume by more than eight per cent at 9 pm. They then compared the relative crash rate before and after 9 pm using data on approximately eight million crashes across nine US States and all fatal crashes across the nation.
They found that the increased mobile phone use by drivers at 9 pm had no corresponding effect on crash rates.
Bluey Circles:
xichrisxi:
Same as listening to music then…shall we ban all stereos too■■?Is there any evidence to show that listening to music is distracting ?
When you are lost or struggling to find where you are looking for; do you turn the radio down or even off? or maybe even wind down the window? If you do then you are subconsciously trying to heighten your concentration - so there could well be an argument that it does reduce concentration.But stereos aside this is about mobile phones, if hand held is deemed to be dangerous then surely hands free must be as well! I am not against phone use, CB, listening to loud music, listening to stories or interesting sciency programmes when driving in quiet road conditions, but in busy situations when you should be at 100% may be all should be banned. (now that would be a complex law to write and police)
I always turn my radio off when reversing,try reversing into a tight/awkward space with loud music on its nigh on impossible 
What annoys me about the mobile phone debate is that within 10 years of their speedy development their hand held use was banned. Yet drivers are still allowed to consume alcohol when there is a mass of evidence supporting even small amounts affect concentration and judgement and still there isn’t a total ban.
I’ll happily talk all day on my hands free while I’m cruising up the motorway or a duel carriageway for example. But if I’m in a town, or performing a manoeuvre the conversation is as follows. “Sorry, cant talk, ring you when I’m free. Byeeeeeeeee”
But that is my own personal situation I guess. I don’t envy anyone trying write laws, because as a rule; A person can be, intelligent, erudite, and polite. People can be ■■■■■■■ idiots.
Sorry what wad that…
I was on the phone 
Juddian:
Professional drivers the volunteers? no thought not.One size fits all, lowest common denominator rules just the way everything is going… whoda thought it the typical numpty who probably can’t drive for toffee can’t drive for toffee whilst simultaneously talking on the phone…
The fact of the matter is that driving standards are appallingly low in this country. The easy explanation to the high(!) accident rate is an obvious cause, speeding, mobile phone use etc. Unfortunately this misses what is, to us drivers who spend disproportionately large amounts of time driving, glaringly obvious. A lot of people simply aren’t good drivers.
xichrisxi:
Same as listening to music then…shall we ban all stereos too■■?
Irrelevant, unless you talk back to the radio.
The only difference between hands free and holding the handset is you only have one hand with which to drive, we all phone and drive I would face instant dismissal were I to be caught using the phone handsfree or not.
Try typing on the keyboard in front of you and talking on the phone at the same time handsfree if you wish, you won’t be able to do both, the same goes for driving regardless of how long you’ve been doing it.
A good driver uses his common sense, cruising on a quiet M way not going to be a problem, driving through an urban environment with cyclists pedestrians and so on then you would have to be a bit of an idiot to use the phone.
You kill someone whilst driving and that little earpiece won’t save you, like I said a bit of common sense.
Sensible law would have been no mobile phone use unless hand/park brake is on
at the moment using a hand held is illegal if at a standstill in a queue etc with the handbrake on = DAFT
F-reds:
I’ll happily talk all day on my hands free while I’m cruising up the motorway or a duel carriageway for example. But if I’m in a town, or performing a manoeuvre the conversation is as follows. “Sorry, cant talk, ring you when I’m free. Byeeeeeeeee”But that is my own personal situation I guess. I don’t envy anyone trying write laws, because as a rule; A person can be, intelligent, erudite, and polite. People can be [zb] idiots.
+1
We drive to the road conditions! On a steady motorway there is no issue with chatting on a hands free phone because you can still be fully aware of your surroundings and should the need arise, you can automatically divert full concentration to driving.
In towns, unfamiliar roads etc you would end the call or ignore it because you are going to be busy driving for quite a while and it would not be safe to chat at the time
That story and is so obviously political rather than practical 
Captain Caveman 76:
Juddian:
Professional drivers the volunteers? no thought not.One size fits all, lowest common denominator rules just the way everything is going… whoda thought it the typical numpty who probably can’t drive for toffee can’t drive for toffee whilst simultaneously talking on the phone…
The fact of the matter is that driving standards are appallingly low in this country. The easy explanation to the high(!) accident rate is an obvious cause, speeding, mobile phone use etc. Unfortunately this misses what is, to us drivers who spend disproportionately large amounts of time driving, glaringly obvious. A lot of people simply aren’t good drivers.
This is never going to change, until the authorities realise that a (safety) camera wont improve the standard of driving, putting Traffic Cops back on the road is the only way to have an effect, I’m sure I recently heard a report that there are now fewer that 4000 traffic cops, to my reckoning that means, that at any one time only about 1300 are at work
I don’t know about any one else here, but I only have conversation for longer than a couple of minutes on the handsfree with a few people, My wife my brother and a couple of mates, apart from my wife they are all drivers too, and they seem to know when I’m concentrating more on the driving, and I do with them, I think that it is something that another professional driver picks up on, and I don’t think can be calibrated or replicated in a laboratory.
ROG:
Sensible law would have been no mobile phone use unless hand/park brake is onat the moment using a hand held is illegal if at a standstill in a queue etc with the handbrake on = DAFT
I thought it was illegal to use a handheld mobile with the engine running, whether stationary or moving 
Tony Saprano:
What annoys me about the mobile phone debate is that within 10 years of their speedy development their hand held use was banned. Yet drivers are still allowed to consume alcohol when there is a mass of evidence supporting even small amounts affect concentration and judgement and still there isn’t a total ban.
What annoys me is so called expert’s knee jerk reactions with no REAL substance, about somebody having a pint of beer, and having 11 hours off but being labelled as a pariah for doing so, in the same category as a ■■■■ head with 10 pints on board driving home.
Worse still are those that believe it and regurgitate it quoting ‘‘mass evidence’’ and calling for a ‘Total Ban’ where there is equally ‘‘mass evidence’’ to the contrary.
In other words mate, OPINIONS,…exactly as the thread subject! 
So we’ll have to disagree bud. 
robroy:
Tony Saprano:
What annoys me about the mobile phone debate is that within 10 years of their speedy development their hand held use was banned. Yet drivers are still allowed to consume alcohol when there is a mass of evidence supporting even small amounts affect concentration and judgement and still there isn’t a total ban.What annoys me is so called expert’s knee jerk reactions with no REAL substance, about somebody having a pint of beer, and having 11 hours off but being labelled as a pariah for doing so, in the same category as a ■■■■ head with 10 pints on board driving home.
Worse still are those that believe it and regurgitate it quoting ‘‘mass evidence’’ and calling for a ‘Total Ban’
In other words mate, OPINIONS,…exactly as the thread subject!
So we’ll have to disagree bud.
I don’t profess to be an expert of any kind. My point wasn’t about having a drink then resting for 11 hours then driving. My point was that you can have a pint then jump straight in your car and drive. I’m sure there are plenty of coppers that would want the same ban as they’re the ones having to knock on doors.
Juddian:
Professional drivers the volunteers? no thought not.One size fits all, lowest common denominator rules just the way everything is going… whoda thought it the typical numpty who probably can’t drive for toffee can’t drive for toffee whilst simultaneously talking on the phone…
Yup and it has an officially sanctified name_Common Purpose,a philosophy ingrained through every facet of our culture/body politic,originally born in the Frankfurt School embryo,decades ago and now infecting every scintilla of our life,hence the interchangeable political drones exemplified by Clegg,Millibandroid,ad nauseum,it has its tentacles in every nuance of our collective culture,namely an agenda to erradicate any threat of non compliance to the ZionistMasonicBankster,Great Work Of The Ages agenda of a bovine populace,poisoned by its food supply,detatched from its natural genius,by virtue of bread and circus,lower than a crabs arse “cultural” landscape.
Seems to be working out rather well for them.