Slashdot Mirror
Car Cellphone Bans Driving Bluetooth
jmatheny14 noted that the BBC is running an article about an unexpected side effect of car cellphone bans. It says"Legislation banning the use of mobile phones in cars is spurring car manufactures to look for alternatives such as Bluetooth." and "Because it can be used with a hands-free headset that can connect to a mobile phone even if the device is some distance away, it could be a perfect way to get around the ban."
uh newsflash.
This is one of those laws where most people ignore it. Like Jaywalking, Speeding, and Sodomy!
It's difficult to enforce, due to the lack of similar laws in neighboring cities and townships.
"Sorry, Jim, going into Suffolk county now, gotta hang up cause there's signs everywhere! I'll reach ya via bluetooth!"
fslg503-985-8686503-985-8686503-985-8686503-985-8
Because of people talking on cell phones getting into accidents, some states have full bans some states require hands free devices
Jesus saves, everyone else takes full damage from the fireball.
It is not just the fact that cellphone take one hand away from the wheel it is also the dialing, the looking for a phonenumber, the dropping your cell phone and looking for it under your seat, while keeping one eye on the road and the foot on a the pedal. Until, a car product can get rid of these "dangers" that cell phone cause, things will remain the same.
dam(U)
Useless sig.
I can't say that I don't give a fuck. I've just run out of fuck to give.
The issue of cell phones in cars is somewhat serious. I know a couple people who have been involved in accidents because they were talking on their cell phones and didn't have time to react. A person who is holding their phone up to their ear is more occupied and so is less likely to be able to respond in a timely fashon.
Some form of headsets are a good idea. They require less attention to the phone and allow the driver to simply talk without worrying about holding the phone up. However, even those cheap $20 ones work just fine for this purpose.
Using bluetooth for this makes bluetooth seem like an answer searching for a question. Using bluetooth would just be using hype to sell super-expensive headsets. I think those cheap one will suffice.
Of course... I don't need any sort of headset. I am an excellent driver and I can concentrate on the road without a headset...
neurostarHow many of you have your kids quiet in the car while driving? How many of you don't like driving with passengers because... they are a distraction? ANYTHING that distracts you from the most immediate and important task - DRIVING - should, pardon the pun, take an immediate and complete back seat to anything but driving when you are on the road. Hundreds upon hundreds of accidents each year should drill that concept into you. It's no wonder I see more and more luxury-class vehicle accidents than I do even drunk driving incidents anymore. High speed and cellphones are the new alcohol intoxication of today's highways.
I think with the interesting people, their lives can't possibly be wrapped up into a nice little package.
has nobody heard of hands free headsets?
When a fellow talks on the phone while driving, even with a headset, the conversation still reduces his concentration to the level of a driver at the legal limit for alcohol intoxication.
Will I retire or break 10K?
So by extension, talking to a passenger in your car is also dangerous?
So the answer to your question is no (or at least not to the same extent).
Perhaps automobile manufacturers should get past the marketing hype and actually market a feature that customers want and have been sociologically clamoring for the last decade - Self-driving cars.
It's called a railway train and it's been around since a few decades. A subway and a bus also does what you look for.
Now I know that the railway system in Northern America stinks, but here in Europe, you'd be surprised how good it actually is. Fast, modern, not too pricy (although I wouldn't mind a price cut).
I'm 30, I live in Hamburg, I have a small company, I travel a lot within Germany (to both big and small cities), I have a driver's license but I don't own a car. I don't expect to buy a car at least within the next five years.
Trains do everything I need for distant travels. The Hamburg tram and bus system does everything I want for local travel except when I have to transport some heavy object e.g. furniture. That's when I rent a car or ask a friend for help.
And when train, tram, subway and bus don't reach the place I want to go to, I hop on a taxi.
So far, the costs are much lower than owning a car in Germany (fuel, insurances, maintenace, etc.), but I guess that owning a car is significantly cheaper in the US, so it's tough to compare.
That's time that I can't do anything useful with...study, read, play a game, nothing.
That's exactly why I like not having a car. Leave the driving to someone else, I just work a little on my laptop or bring my pillow and rest a few hours.
market a feature that customers want and have been sociologically clamoring for the last decade
Do customers want this and did they clamor for it for the last decade? Because if they did, the bigger US cities would have a much better public transportation system, Amtrak wouldn't suck and Greyhound buses wouldn't be the poor man's ride they are today.
(I know what I talk about. I had a 8 week trip through the US on a Greyhound ticket. It was fun and the bus system isn't actually bad, but no average US citizen would want to see as an alternative to having a car.)
------------------
You may like my a cappella music
...try this.
Crank up your fave FPS or driving simulator. Get really into it. Mark down how soon you crash/get killed out.
Now call someone and try to have a meaningful talk on the hone with them while playing the same game. Now see how fast you get killed out.
Behind the wheel of your car, there is no "reset".
Where there are accidents.
Draconion[sic] speed limits (less than 35 km/h in some places)
Yes. Outside schools. Where the UK have one of the worst accident rates in Europe
Insane fuel tax, (costs around 75p/litre)
See below
High Taxes
You have a second world economy, you want first world services, you get high taxes. The UK is no longer a world power but tries to act like one. Get over it.
Speed bumps, chicanes, etc
With you there. Sensible countries like Germany use rumble strips.
Plans for congestion charges/road tolls in cities.
Have you ever been outside the UK, friend? To France, Italy, Switzerland or the places in the US where they have toll roads? It's hardly a UK disease.
If you don't like it, go somewhere else. Pay French income tax, be unemployed in Germany, pay US health insurance rates, suffer Italian bureaucracy or Swiss anal retentiveness. But don't be so silly. The UK economy is still heavily auto-based, and governments ignore this at their peril.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
Or pull over slowly/at the next exit and call them back. Really, how many cell phones don't come with caller ID? No caller ID/blocked number, use voice mail. Like screening your calls at home, if they don't leave a message, was it really all that important to answer the phone in the first place? Probably not.
Absolutely. I know someone who basically has no ability to concentrate on the road if you're talking to them. Figured this out once the hard way. No accident but when they ran the SECOND stop sign I decided that I should never mix talking and driving with them.
Also, pretty much anything can be a distraction. I once got into (my one) accident by looking down for like 0.5s to hit eject on my tapedeck. Traffic was doing like 15mi/hr but it came to a complete stop in that period of time. No one is proposing doing away with stereos in cars but basically anything that is a distraction is a hazard. Laws banning cell phones while driving are just trying to reduce the incidence of needless distraction. Given the way a lot of people drive (Do they even teach following distance in drivers ed. these days?) it really doesn't take much to cause an accident these days.