With America’s National Safety Council (NSC) calling for an all-out ban on mobile phone usage while driving, debate has continued amongst us Aussies as to whether such a ban should go ahead on our shores. NSC studies show that hands-free phone usage is no safer than using your phone as per usual. RACV General Manager Brian Negus is not entirely convinced however.
Mr Negus cited RACV’s own studies in his response but noted that mobile phone usage of any form while driving is definitely a distraction:
“the difference between hand-held and hands-free is still a matter for conjecture”.
NSC president Janet Froetscher painted a different picture:
“There is a huge misperception with the public that it’s OK if they are using a hands-free phone. It’s the same challenge we had with seatbelts and drunk-driving — we’ve got to get people thinking the same way about cell phones.”
There’s no doubt that conducting almost any activity while driving will result in some form of distraction but the matter at hand is the differing risk between normal usage and hands-free usage.
Mr Negus noted that the Government was aware of the issue and had reacted by banning learner drivers and P1 probationary drivers from any mobile phone usage when driving. He went on to explain that a study of under-25s had found that over 30 percent had witnessed drivers sending text messages and talking on mobile phones.
Traffic Accident Commission manager of road safety, Samantha Cockfield, joined Negus in explaining that drivers should be wary of any distractions while at the wheel.
“No phone call is so important that it cannot wait a few minutes until you pull over,”
So what do you think? While few could argue that mobile phone usage is a distraction, the real question here is if we should ban all mobile phone usage including hands-free operation? It might not be as clear cut as you think, have your say below.
[Source: The Age]
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while i beleive there is little difference between having a conversation “hands-free” and chatting with others in the car while driving, one would have to be rather ignorant of the human condition to beleive that any form of conversation while driving wouldn’t result in some small amount of loss of driver concentration.
thing is, we’re not going to ban conversations in cars, so why should we ban hands-free phone usage.
while driving, a driver should be able to, at any point in time, stop a conversation if he or she beleives that their concentration is being compromised. its just a matter of drivers having the confidence and knowledge to do so.
agree with Pitty, people have had conversations with each other whilst driving since cars were invented.
banning ALL mobile phone conversations is just idiotic
Studies have shown that a telephone conversation still requires more “mental effort” than having a conversation with another occupant.
It isn’t entirely unbelievable - there’s a lot of non-verbal cues that don’t get sent over a phone. Thinking about how to phrase things you naturally gesture or express with your facial features requires more attention.
Most people are smart enough to realise what gestures are safely doable in a car, but thinking about how to translate such a thing is subconscious and so sometimes people don’t realise their mind is no longer focused where it should be.