The phone must be *fully* hands free to be legal. The proposed law (63Kb PDF) is ruling out handheld phones even with hands-free equipment:
The proposed prohibition would apply to the use of all mobile phones or similar
devices that are not hands-free. We do not consider that the phone needs to be
physically held in a driver's hand in order to commit an offence. This would prohibit
the use of hand-held phones used with an earphone and microphone whether using
a wire, or wireless, connection. Even though they can be used 'hands-free' to some
extent, these still require the user to hold the phone in order to press buttons or to
read a message on the phone's screen.
This means at the very least you must have it in a "permanently fixed cradle" and possibly have to switch the "auto answer" feature on - how many people know how to do that, let alone bother to do it every time they get in the car?
That is not to say you will be a safe driver even then - a few years ago a driver reached into their jacket in the passenger seat for a mint and swerved into a lorry which smashed through the central reservation and killed several people. He escaped a prison sentence - but only just.
European safety is in many ways far tougher than in the US - the Smart Car you mention is probably the safest small car in the world - if crushed it would probably stand up better than many larger vehicles.
If you import a car from the US to the UK it will have to pass an SVA test. I have been told that there are some vehicles sold new in the US that have no hope of passing the SVA without costly modifications (and we're not talking amber tail-lights here - major brake modifications!) Apparently even the emblems on the hood of some Limos are too *tall* to pass, though you could remove it for the test and re-fit it afterwards!
I think the person who wrote that article needs to have a look at this site - it seems to know more about it than them.
I used the system at the Science Museum, London and was very impressed since I had read a lot about it but never used it. My parents dragged me away before I got too stuck in!:-(
Have a look on ebay - there are traders selling them for $36 and the shipping is only $8 to the UK. Most have stacks of feedback so you aren't going to get ripped off.
Slashdot Mirror
The phone must be *fully* hands free to be legal. The proposed law (63Kb PDF) is ruling out handheld phones even with hands-free equipment:
This means at the very least you must have it in a "permanently fixed cradle" and possibly have to switch the "auto answer" feature on - how many people know how to do that, let alone bother to do it every time they get in the car?
That is not to say you will be a safe driver even then - a few years ago a driver reached into their jacket in the passenger seat for a mint and swerved into a lorry which smashed through the central reservation and killed several people. He escaped a prison sentence - but only just.
Gareth
scientology.com was #1 long before the current Google update - I checked it at least two weeks before the current update.
Gareth
It's on The National Geographic Channel (Sky Digital/Cable only) at 0100-0300 (presumably the live show) and repeated throughout the week.
See Digiguide for details
Gareth
You can see the old version here
European safety is in many ways far tougher than in the US - the Smart Car you mention is probably the safest small car in the world - if crushed it would probably stand up better than many larger vehicles.
If you import a car from the US to the UK it will have to pass an SVA test. I have been told that there are some vehicles sold new in the US that have no hope of passing the SVA without costly modifications (and we're not talking amber tail-lights here - major brake modifications!) Apparently even the emblems on the hood of some Limos are too *tall* to pass, though you could remove it for the test and re-fit it afterwards!
Gareth
You can ask Google to index but not cache a page:
<META NAME="googleBOT" CONTENT="NOARCHIVE">
Gareth
I think the person who wrote that article needs to have a look at this site - it seems to know more about it than them.
I used the system at the Science Museum, London and was very impressed since I had read a lot about it but never used it. My parents dragged me away before I got too stuck in! :-(
Gareth
Have a look on ebay - there are traders selling them for $36 and the shipping is only $8 to the UK. Most have stacks of feedback so you aren't going to get ripped off.
Gareth
You can view it here without having to pay.
Gareth