Cell Phone Headsets?

stm42 asks: "I drive 45 miles to and from work each day and I have found that a great way to spend the time productively is to use it to make the phone calls I have to make to employees, co-workers, bosses, etc. I want to be safe, however, and would like to find a headset for cell phones (with a regular headphone jack) that works and is fairly comfortable. I currently use a Plantronics over the ear style and it will stay on my head but I usually have to push the earphone to my ear to hear the other person and that pretty much eliminates the usefulness of the headset. Any suggestions?"

Comments

Earbuds (not jabber eargels)

[JofCoRe]

I like the earbud one that I have that came w/my Nokia phone. It's just a simple earbud with a mike on the line, and a clip so i can clip it to my shirt. I tried the jabber ones, but didn't really care for the gel earpiece... much too hard to get in and out of my ear. This simple little nokia one works great for me.

(personally I like to be unproductive during my 45 min - hour drive in though. I like to take the time to relax and enjoy the drive rather than working every second of the day. but that's just me :)

oh yeah... FP?

Re:Earbuds (not jabber eargels)

[xWeston]

I have the Jabra Earbud that has the "gel" earpiece like he said. Mine has the microphone integrated to the earpiece instead of on the line. I've found it to be very easy to get in and out of my ear... it just takes a simple twist as said in the directions.

The sound quality for the listener is good, but I've had complaints about it not being as good on the other end, or being exceptionally loud.

It is impossible to drive with the windows down while using the earpiece in my left ear because of the wind noise.

However, I've killed many hr+ car rides by making phone calls and doing business on the road. It makes it hard when people want you to write something down, but that is what the recording feature on the phone is for!

Most of the time I use AM Radio to kill the car rides so that at least I'm thinking a little bit.

Cellphone use worse than drunken driving

[HughsOnFirst]

A 1997 study by the New England Journal of collisions in Toronto provides the first such evidence. By comparing the times of cellular-telephone calls, obtained from billing data, with the times of collisions, Redelmeier and Tibshirani estimated that the risk of a collision was between 3.0 and 6.5 times as high within 10 minutes after a cellular-telephone call began as when the telephone was not used.

ABSTRACT

Background Because of a belief that the use of cellular telephones while driving may cause collisions, several countries have restricted their use in motor vehicles, and others are considering such regulations. We used an epidemiologic method, the case-crossover design, to study whether using a cellular telephone while driving increases the risk of a motor vehicle collision.

Methods We studied 699 drivers who had cellular telephones and who were involved in motor vehicle collisions resulting in substantial property damage but no personal injury. Each person's cellular-telephone calls on the day of the collision and during the previous week were analyzed through the use of detailed billing records.

Results A total of 26,798 cellular-telephone calls were made during the 14-month study period. The risk of a collision when using a cellular telephone was four times higher than the risk when a cellular telephone was not being used (relative risk, 4.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 3.0 to 6.5). The relative risk was similar for drivers who differed in personal characteristics such as age and driving experience; calls close to the time of the collision were particularly hazardous (relative risk, 4.8 for calls placed within 5 minutes of the collision, as compared with 1.3 for calls placed more than 15 minutes before the collision; P<0.001); and units that allowed the hands to be free (relative risk, 5.9) offered no safety advantage over hand-held units (relative risk, 3.9; P not significant). Thirty-nine percent of the drivers called emergency services after the collision, suggesting that having a cellular telephone may have had advantages in the aftermath of an event.

Conclusions The use of cellular telephones in motor vehicles is associated with a quadrupling of the risk of a collision during the brief period of a call. Decisions about regulation of such telephones, however, need to take into account the benefits of the technology and the role of individual responsibility.

Also many employers are prohibiting employees from using cell phones on business related calls while driving because the employer can be held liable if the employee has an accident.

Just google for Cellphone+drunken+driving and this story comes up a few times.


PARK CITY, Utah, July 22 (UPI) -- A new study says if you are given a choice of talking on a cell phone while driving or driving while intoxicated, you would be safer driving drunk.

And the University of Utah study says it makes no difference whether the telephone is hand held or is being used hands-free.

Newsday says the study, presented Tuesday at an auto safety conference in Park City, Utah, was based on the performance of 41 test subjects on a driving simulator. The subjects "drove" on a multi-lane highway, with and without hand-held and hands-free cell phones and with and without a 0.08 percent alcohol level

Researchers said they found a 50 percent reduction in the processing of visual information when people drive and talk on a cellular telephone.

Researchers said, "When drivers were conversing on a cell phone, they were involved in more rear end collisions ... and took 18 percent longer to return to their initial driving speed than when they were legally drunk."