Brake want to ban hands free phones

[im]

motco said:

The important difference between a passenger in your car talking to you, and a person on the other end of a telephone call, is that the latter cannot see what's going on around the vehicle whereas a passenger can and will understand that at times the driver will naturally suspend the conversation while he/she deals with the situation requiring 100% concentration. Both situations are distracting, but the 'phone call doubly so compared the in-car situation.

You've clearly never had kids in the car if you think they are busy looking out for danger when they lambast you with "Can I have..." or "how much further" or "I'm hungry...need a wee...why dad why...jimmy just hit me dad" etc etc etc.

It's actually worse "in-car" as kids won't see reason but an adult on the other end of a hands-free conversation usually waits for a response from the driver before continuing.

[Sam1990]

"Don't phone whilst driving"

Written on almost every matrix over the motorways (From Northampton to Darlington) yesterday. Were they taking requests from Brake?

[rallycross]

robinessex said:

rallycross said:

The worrying thing about brake is they seem to achieve a disproportionally high level of publicity with their crazy suggestions.

What motorists need is a similar organisation that promotes the other view, to help balance things out.

The motorist has no voice, what we need is something like PH to combine with RAC to promote an alternative view.

We have. It's called ABD. Google it

Never heard them make a sound about anything not much use against the loud voice of Brake it is? (the silent voice of the motorist?)
http://www.abd.org.uk/

[odyssey2200]

rallycross said:

robinessex said:

rallycross said:

The worrying thing about brake is they seem to achieve a disproportionally high level of publicity with their crazy suggestions.

What motorists need is a similar organisation that promotes the other view, to help balance things out.

The motorist has no voice, what we need is something like PH to combine with RAC to promote an alternative view.

We have. It's called ABD. Google it

Never heard them make a sound about anything not much use against the loud voice of Brake it is? (the silent voice of the motorist?)
http://www.abd.org.uk/

They don't get funding from government to pay for them to lobby government to do what government wants to do.

[Graham]

Vipers said:

Good job the government has stated they have no intention to ban hands free phones.

Sorted.

now im worried

[motco]

im said:

motco said:

The important difference between a passenger in your car talking to you, and a person on the other end of a telephone call, is that the latter cannot see what's going on around the vehicle whereas a passenger can and will understand that at times the driver will naturally suspend the conversation while he/she deals with the situation requiring 100% concentration. Both situations are distracting, but the 'phone call doubly so compared the in-car situation.

You've clearly never had kids in the car if you think they are busy looking out for danger when they lambast you with "Can I have..." or "how much further" or "I'm hungry...need a wee...why dad why...jimmy just hit me dad" etc etc etc.

It's actually worse "in-car" as kids won't see reason but an adult on the other end of a hands-free conversation usually waits for a response from the driver before continuing.

My daughter, now with her own saying the same thing, used to pipe up with "I feel sick..." or worse "I'm going to be s.............. "

[im]

motco said:

im said:

motco said:

The important difference between a passenger in your car talking to you, and a person on the other end of a telephone call, is that the latter cannot see what's going on around the vehicle whereas a passenger can and will understand that at times the driver will naturally suspend the conversation while he/she deals with the situation requiring 100% concentration. Both situations are distracting, but the 'phone call doubly so compared the in-car situation.

You've clearly never had kids in the car if you think they are busy looking out for danger when they lambast you with "Can I have..." or "how much further" or "I'm hungry...need a wee...why dad why...jimmy just hit me dad" etc etc etc.

It's actually worse "in-car" as kids won't see reason but an adult on the other end of a hands-free conversation usually waits for a response from the driver before continuing.

My daughter, now with her own saying the same thing, used to pipe up with "I feel sick..." or worse "I'm going to be s.............. "

Are Brake advocating the banning of kids from the car? That'd sort the 'morning school run' problem in one fell swoop!

[SEE YA]

The problem is people these days with most things 'Sod you I am alright Jack' They just do not care until it happens to them.

There is no threat by the Police, should be a year ban if you are caught.
Hand free kits are cheap to buy and fit.

[jamieduff1981]

Devil2575 said:

heebeegeetee said:

jamieduff1981 said:

Everyone should do a few flying lessons. They'll get taught how to jot down notes from ATC whilst checking a map, scanning instruments and keeping their head on a swivel out the windows for other traffic.

You'll never do that with the likelihood of a car or person suddenly stepping/pulling out on you though.

Indeed. The air is relatively empty compared to the roads and there are no pedestrians. If aircraft had to fly in airspace as congested as roads they wouldn't be able to do any of those things.

The other sentence which concluded that paragraph quoted read:

"You're more likely to crash a car than a plane so I'd suggest that anyone who couldn't handle the stresses of a few hours' flying lessons has no business on roads in a car."

Makes more sense now?

[spaximus]

heebeegeetee said:

spaximus said:

I was speaking with my boss today about this as a company who has been approached several times by Brake to donate, as we are in the transport industry.
I pointed out the history of Brake and how it has evolved from a good thing that helped to stop road hauliers getting away with no maintenance and killing people.

Eh?

Didn't it evolve from a mother whose daughter had been killed by a completely illegal (and serial) car driver? Said mother/organisation turned it into a battle against a completely different type of motorist (ie the everyday man and woman) and has turned every single road casualty into being a 'victim'.

As I understand, it was founded by Mary Williams, her husband or partner was killed by a lorry that was unsafe. She started a campaign that grew as more people who had been left devestated by the loss of a loved one.

As I said the work that the group did when it was formed in 1995 was very good, but it has evolved into something that has an agenda that is far away from it's roots, in my opinion.

They now have Brake New Zealand as well as the UK one.

I think they belive every word they write, but just look up some of the speaches and form your own views. One describes the new conservative goverment as a right wing, allowing councils to remove cameras, for example.

I am not in favour of a free for all, but there is a balance on road safety and their view is unbalanced.

As for research, how you present a question is key to getting the right result for your cause. When the cigarette manufactueres presented reaserch that said passive smoking was not proven to be bad for your health, the scource of funding to the academic was a key issue to ignore the conclucsion.
Equally when the cameras were removed form Swindon and there was no rise in the accident rate or death rate after a year, the conclucsion seemed to support the council view. Brake said it was too soon to tell, had it been the other way they it would certainly had used that to vilify the council.

[mygoldfishbowl]

Sam1990 said:

"Don't phone whilst driving"

Written on almost every matrix over the motorways (From Northampton to Darlington) yesterday. Were they taking requests from Brake?

So one of the very few times those gantry signs have been correct.

[jmcc500]

Having looked into this in the past I am in agreement with Brake. There are many studies that have shown a correlation between hands-free calls and a reduction in driver performance.

I'd also suggest that some of you guys of the opposite opinion partake in some advanced driver training with someone like Cadence, or even the IAM or ROSPA as I very much doubt you would get far if you were taking calls on your hands free whilst trying to drive to a decent standard.

[im]

jmcc500 said:

Having looked into this in the past I am in agreement with Brake. There are many studies that have shown a correlation between hands-free calls and a reduction in driver performance.

I'd also suggest that some of you guys of the opposite opinion partake in some advanced driver training with someone like Cadence, or even the IAM or ROSPA as I very much doubt you would get far if you were taking calls on your hands free whilst trying to drive to a decent standard.

How about with kids in the back talking constantly...how far would I get?

[Vipers]

im said:

How about with kids in the back talking constantly...how far would I get?

Interesting, when my two used to get into heated arguement in the back, I used to find a safe place and pull up.

I found I just couldn't concentrate with heated bickering going on.

[Munter]

Vipers said:

Interesting, when my two used to get into heated arguement in the back, I used to find a safe place and pull up.

I found I just couldn't concentrate with heated bickering going on.

The Brake people want to remove that decision from you though. It's lowest common denominator stuff again. Rather than educate drivers so they know when to make that decision, Brake has decided they know best for all situations.

[jmcc500]

im said:

jmcc500 said:

Having looked into this in the past I am in agreement with Brake. There are many studies that have shown a correlation between hands-free calls and a reduction in driver performance.

I'd also suggest that some of you guys of the opposite opinion partake in some advanced driver training with someone like Cadence, or even the IAM or ROSPA as I very much doubt you would get far if you were taking calls on your hands free whilst trying to drive to a decent standard.

How about with kids in the back talking constantly...how far would I get?

Ummm... Not very far there either, and it doesn't mean that the phone use is therefore ok, surely you see that? So yes, there are a lot of things that can cause distraction and increase our risk on the road. If one of them is something completely avoidable then why not mandate it to be illegal?

[Mave]

im said:

How about with kids in the back talking constantly...how far would I get?

When my kids start distracting me, I tell them to be quiet. Doing this on the phone would probably seem somewhat rude.

[jmorgan]

I think people are still missing the point about how your brain deals a phone call compared to other distractions. Yes you should control the others as well, but calls on the blower are different thought still a distraction.

[andy_s]

Ban the use altogether, people still managed to survive quite well before them, they could still easily do so for an hour or so a day when doing something more important.

[22Rgt]

There was once a time before mobile phones you had to get out of the car to use a phone box or wait till journeys end to use the phone. The argument for using a phone in the car however its used is a dead end one, technology may have moved on but the world still went round without mobile phones. The obsession some have with having to answer texts, facebook messages ect and emails immediately is bordering on the ridiculous. My phone stays with me in the car but dont have a handsfree, if theres a missed call theres a missed call, life will still go on..