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

Drivers could be banned from using hands-free mobile phones, a group of MPs has suggested.

Current laws give the "misleading impression" that hands-free options are safe, they warned.

While it has been illegal to use a handheld phone at the wheel since 2003, using a hands-free device creates "the same risks of collision", the Commons Transport Select Committee said.

The government said that, where legal, drivers must always use phones safely.

An expert told the committee that taking a hands-free phone call caused "essentially the same" amount of distraction as being at the legal limit for alcohol blood level in England and Wales.

A public consultation on the proposal should be published by the end of 2019, the cross-party group said.

Any change would not apply in Northern Ireland, where road safety policy and legislation is a devolved issue.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49320473

Ever noticed the number of drivers that take their eyes off the road when talking to passengers, that's more dangerous I think !

nicko wrote:Ever noticed the number of drivers that take their eyes off the road when talking to passengers,  that's more dangerous I think !

I completely agree Nicko.

nicko wrote:Ever noticed the number of drivers that take their eyes off the road when talking to passengers,  that's more dangerous I think !

I was just about to say...

The big problem with cell phones is texting, or Internet posting--something that takes the eyes off driving.

I saw someone texting and driving the other day. Pissed me off so I threw the beer I was drinking at them.

Well, I'm sure you all understand this issue far better than the Commons Transport Select Committee. You should send them an email.

What next, no radio, no talking to passengers? Hands free is ok as far as I know. I don't have one, and sometimes I go quiet when negotiating traffic. That's just common sense though. I still see drivers with phones to their ears, happens lots here which I think is dangerous. They never get nicked as there's no coppers to nick them.

No changing radio channels.
No changing gear with a manual gearbox.
No picking your nose.
No. eating sweets.
No applying makeup.

Remarkable, isn't it, that pilots of a military, civilian or even private aircraft are deemed capable of carrying out complicated and highly technical conversations with air traffic control while approaching an airfield over a heavily populated area, while experienced car drivers are apparently a danger to everyone else while hands-off voice dialling their partner to say that they are stuck in yet another traffic jam and won't be home before midnight?

No doubt the transport committee members - who would be far better employed concentrating on sorting out our dangerously crumbling roads and crap railway services - will expect exemption for MPs on the basis of the, er, vital importance of their work.

this may well be just a huge cash operation to fleece folk of yet more money

after all, via google, phone apps, GPS tracking etc, there may be no way a driver anywhere could actually get away with it.

not sure, but recent tech abilities seems to suggest we are being listened to and tracked wherever we go

there would be billions to made from this

How is an hgv driver supposed to contact his depot to say he is stuck in a jam on the M25, and will be 2 hours late?
It's a nonsense, being discussed by idiots with chauffeurs.

the biggest distraction for me is having young kids in the back of the car, squawking away, kicking the seat and firing a million questions at me while i'm trying to concentrate

ban kids

Got a Nephew who drives an HGV, as I once did. Andy is correct !

Fred Moletrousers wrote:Remarkable, isn't it, that  pilots of a military, civilian or even private aircraft are deemed capable of carrying out complicated and highly technical conversations with air traffic control while approaching an airfield over a heavily populated area, while experienced car drivers are apparently a danger to everyone else while hands-off voice dialling  their partner to say that they are stuck in yet another traffic jam and won't be home before midnight?

No doubt the transport committee members - who would be far better employed concentrating on sorting out our dangerously crumbling roads and crap railway services - will expect exemption for MPs on the basis of the, er, vital importance of their work.  

I don't quite see the equivalency there, Fred. Experienced airplane pilots are tending to business when talking to air traffic controllers. So far from being distracted, they are hyper-attentive to their 'driving'.

That's a far cry from chatting by earphone with Dolores, about that bitch Suzy, whose likely having an affair with Jeanie's husband, Arron, etc., etc.