Not a mobile phone - a LAPTOP!

[jonesy]

Well, using hands-free is legal, although some research shows that it makes you more likely to be involved in a collision. I'd hesitate to use the word "ok" in this context - I think "legal" would be a better term.

Yes, that is right. Hands free is very distracting. I'm sure CB distracts as well, though it never achieved the level of widespread use that mobile phones have and I suspect that the sort of conversations people have on it are shorter and less mentally taxing because CB simply isn't as good as a phone for two way discussion.

 

[kyuss]

Why is using a telephone while driving illegal but using CB radio is considered ok?

Or even worse, sat nav. I'm still confused how mobiles are seen as a bad thing yet sat nav (which uses a visual medium and often needs the driver to take their eyes off the road) is seen as being perfectly acceptable and even actively promoted. Where is the difference in this driver re-plotting his route on a laptop and someone doing the same thing on a sat nav?

IMO using anything that purposefully takes a drivers attention away from controlling their vehicle in a safe and appropriate manner should be banned. That would include phones, laptops, sat nav, putting on makeup, reading a map, eating a pie, smoking a cigarette, getting a blowjob etc. It's not a ****ing joke. People die when you're not paying attention. In any other facet of life the consequenses of putting other peoples lives in danger in this manner would incur harsh penalties. It seems if you drive a car you're immune from any prosecution that reflects the consequences of any bad judgement or lack of attention.

 

[zimzum42]

I got a BJ on the M40 once, concentration was fine, only problem was when I got to my destination, go out of the car, and my trousers fell down....

 

[ufkacbln]

Personally I have always had a problem with the slightly hypocritical way we treat in vehicles .

SafeSpeed (Bless their warped statistics) have sent a lot of effort "proving" that glancing at the speedometer kills thousands per year

Yet looking at a SatNav,programming a SatNav, changing a CD, altering the thermostat settings or even answering a mobile phone is not considered a problem.

Blank dashboard is the answer. Nothing excep tthe speedometer allowed in reach of the driver or operable whilst driving?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Really, though, if you're unable to drive safely without doing anything other than looking at the speedometer, you're not going to make a very good driver anyway. I'd agree that using a Satnav, laptop, etc. is not good practice, but I remember one bloke on here (or maybe C+) saying that his dad wouldn't reach for a sweet while he was driving, he'd get his wife to feed it to him instead. Well, a) having someone else feed you a sweet is arguably more distracting than just reaching for the thing, and it's hardly dangerous to eat sweets while driving anyway. I do it most days. And I use a hands free kit, which I don't find distracting. I've even been known to glance at an A-Z, on the grounds that it's arguably less dangerous to do that than it is to reverse an artic out of a dead end street or pedestrian precinct onto a busy main road.

 

[ColinJ]

I remember one bloke on here (or maybe C+) saying that his dad wouldn't reach for a sweet while he was driving, he'd get his wife to feed it to him instead. Well, a) having someone else feed you a sweet is arguably more distracting than just reaching for the thing, and it's hardly dangerous to eat sweets while driving anyway. I do it most days. And I use a hands free kit, which I don't find distracting. I've even been known to glance at an A-Z, on the grounds that it's arguably less dangerous to do that than it is to reverse an artic out of a dead end street or pedestrian precinct onto a busy main road.

Well, here's an example of what can happen if you don't keep your eyes on the road. Grey Van Man allegedly just glanced down to insert a cassette in his stereo and promptly drove off a straight stretch of road into his victims.

 

[jonesy]

Really, though, if you're unable to drive safely without doing anything other than looking at the speedometer, you're not going to make a very good driver anyway. I'd agree that using a Satnav, laptop, etc. is not good practice, but I remember one bloke on here (or maybe C+) saying that his dad wouldn't reach for a sweet while he was driving, he'd get his wife to feed it to him instead. Well, a) having someone else feed you a sweet is arguably more distracting than just reaching for the thing, and it's hardly dangerous to eat sweets while driving anyway. I do it most days. And I use a hands free kit, which I don't find distracting. I've even been known to glance at an A-Z, on the grounds that it's arguably less dangerous to do that than it is to reverse an artic out of a dead end street or pedestrian precinct onto a busy main road.

The key issue is the level of mental distraction, and I'm afraid the research shows that using hands-free phones does impair driving.
http://www.trl.co.uk/online_store/r...e?_benchmarking_the_impairment_to_alcohol.htm

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Unfortunately, and much as I'd like to do without the thing, I don't think I'd last long in my job if I started refusing to answer a phone via a legal and properly installed hands free kit.