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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."
It isn't the actual holding of the cellphones that causes the danger, it just increases it. There was an experiment conducted, where a professional obstacle course driver was asked to count from 1 to 100 while navigating the course, and wasn't able to do it. His driving ability decreased by as much as 90% from simply counting. Bluetooth advancing is good and well, but not at the price of another increase in car accidents. As if drunk teens weren't enough....
I bought an Ericsson T68i phone because of iSync and its connection to the phone via Bluetooth -- lets you also send SMS from the computer. Nothing sucks more about a cell phone than trying to use the keypad to enter phone book items. Plus the Ericsson T68 is pretty much a Palm killer with its Calendar and voice recorder.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
I can't say that I don't give a fuck. I've just run out of fuck to give.
People try to do way too many things while driving. I have a bad habit of talking on the phone, as well as switching CDs. Driving is difficult b/c it can be so unpredictable, and people lose sight of that fact. Here's some articles on use of telematics while driving:
My company recently did a study on telematics use and driver/user attention, and it was pretty freaky how poorly people were able to attend to their main task while performing the secondary telematics task.
Todd
-- !todd erases a red dot! I steal music on the internet.
it should just be a crime to drive inattentively or to create diversions for yourself.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
We should note studies such as this one that show hands free cell phones also cause dangerous distractions while driving.
http://www.nsc.org/library/shelf/inincell.htm
"In sum, we found that conversing on either a hand-held or hands-free cell phone led to significant decrements in simulated driving performance. We suggest that the cellular phone use disrupts performance by diverting attention to an engaging cognitive context other than the one immediately associated with driving.
Our data suggest that legislative initiatives that restrict hand-held devices but permit hands-free devices are not likely to reduce interference from the phone conversation, because the interference is, in this case, due to central attentional processes."
Research indicates the problem with using a cell phone while driving is the distraction of conducting a phone conversation while also controlling a car, not the hands off the steering wheel. Drivers using a head-set experience the same increase in accident rate (to a level similar to driving drunk) as drivers using a cell-phone. See this legal discussion.
Legislation banning the use of mobile phones in cars is spurring car manufactures to look for alternatives such as Bluetooth.
Gee...it's too bad their vision is sp clouded by dollar signs that they can't see what the customer *really* wants.
Why do people talk on cellphones? Because they want to be more productive...whether it's just chatting with a friend about whatever, or talking to the spouse about what to pick up at the store, or getting your ass chewed by the boss for missing a deadline...Cellphones are useful because they allow us to be productive during time when life is otherwise wasted.
Hold your screams for a minute.
I attend college around five hours from my hometown. Whenever me and my girlfriend decide we want to go home for the weekend, that 48 hour weekend is chopped down to 38 hours, since we lose 10 hours in travel time. That's time that I can't do anything useful with...study, read, play a game, nothing.
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. I would easily pay double the price of a current car model to get a car that drives without my assistance or attention. Think about how much time you lose in a year to driving. You could be working in the car on the way to the office and counting it as your work time. You could be spending time with your family while you're on the way to see the parents. You could be watching a movie while you're in the middle of a boring ten-hour drive to San Antonio or whatever.
This is a really stupid move on the part of car manufacturers, as it shows them trying to solve customer needs on the path of least resistance. I think they're approaching the problem from the wrong end, though. We have the technology to solve the problem...and with economies 'round the world in the crapper, this would be an *ideal* way to jumpstart the manufacturing sector. Self-driving cars would reduce insurance premiums, make roadways safer, and increase quality of life. How many people do you know that would instantly go out and buy a new car to get this wasted time back? I know I would...
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
The trouble with cell phone safety is not in the nature of the handset (or hands free set) it is in the conditioned response to phone calls. All this article seems to be pushing is another hands free approach to cell phones. This article http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1885775.stm reports that, "hands-free kits were almost as dangerous as hand-held phones."
n ews/2001/01/25/Consumers/cellphones_study010125 provides this quote on the issue
The point of this article is that, "Reaction and stopping times were much slower Talking on a mobile phone while driving is more dangerous than being over the legal alcohol limit, according to research."
This article http://http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/
"The bandwidth of the brain is actually quite limited," says Dr. John Vavrick, the research psychologist in charge of the study.
"Time sharing and multi-tasking does not come easily to the human brain."
The study used 41 drivers and gave each a series of tests to perform while answering questions through a speaker in the car.
Researchers found the driver's mental state was equally affected whether he or she was using a hands-free phone or not.
This is just a small sampling of the articles of the danger presented by using a cellphone while driving. The risk just isn't worth it, hang up and drive!.
...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".