Author Topic: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal  (Read 3869 times)

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Offline Ranayna

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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #25 on: November 02, 2020, 07:06:38 am »
The topic of driving education reminds me of something that scares me a bit.
Driving educatin in germany isquite thorough, compared to some other countries. You need several hours theoretical instructions with a multiple choice test at the end, but also a certain number of driving hours with a driving instructor, some of these have to be on the Autobahn, some have to be in darkness.

I have heard of several reports of driving instructors, that many students cannot properly concentrate on driving, because they can't use their mobile phones. They get fidgety and nervous. Take a break somewhere, and the first thing out is the smart phone  |O

I dont think it would be all that difficult nowadays for a modern smart phone to detect if is being used by the driver while driving. A quick picture with both cameras to see if you are in the drivers seat, combined with info from the GPS if you are moving or not. If the phone is coupled to the car, as gets increasingly more common, that would be even easier.
 
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Offline HalcyonTopic starter

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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #26 on: November 02, 2020, 07:37:17 am »
Is it still the case in the uk that its illegal to use a phone whilst driving  but  a 2 way radio is fine

The big advantage of a 2 way radio (or a bluetooth connected phone), is that you don't have to look at them to use them.

What freaks me out are the huge central displays on modern car dashboards.
Their bright garish colour schemes just beg you to look at them.

Add to that, the transfer of some control functions to the touchscreen function on these, & they are a recipe for distraction & disaster.
If you want to select between sources for your in car entertainment system, for instance, you usually have to do it on the screen.

Yep! I have a car with quite a large LCD (albeit it's not touchscreen, all the basic functions have a discreet button, including a telephone keypad for dialling/typing).

But my entire instrument cluster is also an LCD display. No matter what car I drive, I usually have to turn the brightness down to minimum just so the many lights don't impair my night vision in rural areas.
 

Offline SilverSolder

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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #27 on: November 02, 2020, 02:53:45 pm »
The topic of driving education reminds me of something that scares me a bit.
Driving educatin in germany isquite thorough, compared to some other countries. You need several hours theoretical instructions with a multiple choice test at the end, but also a certain number of driving hours with a driving instructor, some of these have to be on the Autobahn, some have to be in darkness.

I have heard of several reports of driving instructors, that many students cannot properly concentrate on driving, because they can't use their mobile phones. They get fidgety and nervous. Take a break somewhere, and the first thing out is the smart phone  |O

I dont think it would be all that difficult nowadays for a modern smart phone to detect if is being used by the driver while driving. A quick picture with both cameras to see if you are in the drivers seat, combined with info from the GPS if you are moving or not. If the phone is coupled to the car, as gets increasingly more common, that would be even easier.

Phones need to be better integrated with cars, so they respond to voice commands, etc. -  Come to think of it, I'm sure I had a cell phone in the 90's that could dial a number based on a voice command...  what happened???

 

Offline james_s

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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #28 on: November 02, 2020, 11:19:38 pm »
Phones need to be better integrated with cars, so they respond to voice commands, etc. -  Come to think of it, I'm sure I had a cell phone in the 90's that could dial a number based on a voice command...  what happened???

They ought to be integrated such that they are completely disabled when the car is in motion. Study after study has shown that it's the act of being absorbed in a conversation or other task that is not driving that is dangerous, not the physically holding your phone in your hand part. Something has changed dramatically in society in just the last 20 years or so in that people have become so addicted to instant gratification. It used to be if someone wasn't at home it was just expected to not be able to reach them that instant. If I'm driving my car I don't answer my phone, whoever is trying to reach me can wait until I get to my destination.

Integrating phones into cars is a bad idea for technological reasons too IMO. Phones become obsolete in just a few years, meanwhile a reasonably good quality car should last 20 years or more. We're already starting to see a lot of not so old cars with a bunch of hopelessly obsolete integrated technology. I wish they would bring back the standard DIN slot which makes it possible to select a head unit that has whatever features you want and stick it in there, upgrading any time you choose.
 
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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #29 on: November 02, 2020, 11:45:02 pm »
Phones need to be better integrated with cars, so they respond to voice commands, etc. -  Come to think of it, I'm sure I had a cell phone in the 90's that could dial a number based on a voice command...  what happened???

They ought to be integrated such that they are completely disabled when the car is in motion. Study after study has shown that it's the act of being absorbed in a conversation or other task that is not driving that is dangerous, not the physically holding your phone in your hand part. Something has changed dramatically in society in just the last 20 years or so in that people have become so addicted to instant gratification. It used to be if someone wasn't at home it was just expected to not be able to reach them that instant. If I'm driving my car I don't answer my phone, whoever is trying to reach me can wait until I get to my destination.

Integrating phones into cars is a bad idea for technological reasons too IMO. Phones become obsolete in just a few years, meanwhile a reasonably good quality car should last 20 years or more. We're already starting to see a lot of not so old cars with a bunch of hopelessly obsolete integrated technology. I wish they would bring back the standard DIN slot which makes it possible to select a head unit that has whatever features you want and stick it in there, upgrading any time you choose.
While those views might well be appropriate to the casual private phone user they certainly aren't to the business user where in the last 40 years mobile phones have saved them innumerous costs and time.
Those that just drive to and from work not so much however those out and about everyday as part of their job the cellphone is now an indispensable part of their tool kit.
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Offline Someone

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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #30 on: November 03, 2020, 12:26:26 am »
Phones need to be better integrated with cars, so they respond to voice commands, etc. -  Come to think of it, I'm sure I had a cell phone in the 90's that could dial a number based on a voice command...  what happened???

They ought to be integrated such that they are completely disabled when the car is in motion. Study after study has shown that it's the act of being absorbed in a conversation or other task that is not driving that is dangerous, not the physically holding your phone in your hand part. Something has changed dramatically in society in just the last 20 years or so in that people have become so addicted to instant gratification. It used to be if someone wasn't at home it was just expected to not be able to reach them that instant. If I'm driving my car I don't answer my phone, whoever is trying to reach me can wait until I get to my destination.

Integrating phones into cars is a bad idea for technological reasons too IMO. Phones become obsolete in just a few years, meanwhile a reasonably good quality car should last 20 years or more. We're already starting to see a lot of not so old cars with a bunch of hopelessly obsolete integrated technology. I wish they would bring back the standard DIN slot which makes it possible to select a head unit that has whatever features you want and stick it in there, upgrading any time you choose.
While those views might well be appropriate to the casual private phone user they certainly aren't to the business user where in the last 40 years mobile phones have saved them innumerous costs and time.
Those that just drive to and from work not so much however those out and about everyday as part of their job the cellphone is now an indispensable part of their tool kit.
Since it makes money they don't mind the expense of either:
a) a more expensive car that has built in bluetooth integration (pretty common now) and turning it over before its obsolete
or
b) retrofitting a high quality hands free system to the vehicle
 

Online tautech

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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #31 on: November 03, 2020, 12:31:58 am »
Phones need to be better integrated with cars, so they respond to voice commands, etc. -  Come to think of it, I'm sure I had a cell phone in the 90's that could dial a number based on a voice command...  what happened???

They ought to be integrated such that they are completely disabled when the car is in motion. Study after study has shown that it's the act of being absorbed in a conversation or other task that is not driving that is dangerous, not the physically holding your phone in your hand part. Something has changed dramatically in society in just the last 20 years or so in that people have become so addicted to instant gratification. It used to be if someone wasn't at home it was just expected to not be able to reach them that instant. If I'm driving my car I don't answer my phone, whoever is trying to reach me can wait until I get to my destination.

Integrating phones into cars is a bad idea for technological reasons too IMO. Phones become obsolete in just a few years, meanwhile a reasonably good quality car should last 20 years or more. We're already starting to see a lot of not so old cars with a bunch of hopelessly obsolete integrated technology. I wish they would bring back the standard DIN slot which makes it possible to select a head unit that has whatever features you want and stick it in there, upgrading any time you choose.
While those views might well be appropriate to the casual private phone user they certainly aren't to the business user where in the last 40 years mobile phones have saved them innumerous costs and time.
Those that just drive to and from work not so much however those out and about everyday as part of their job the cellphone is now an indispensable part of their tool kit.
Since it makes money they don't mind the expense of either:
a) a more expensive car that has built in bluetooth integration (pretty common now) and turning it over before its obsolete
or
b) retrofitting a high quality hands free system to the vehicle
Of course.
However it's surprising how many you see with BT earbuds and they like as they are legally acceptable as hands free here.
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Offline SilverSolder

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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #32 on: November 03, 2020, 12:34:59 am »
Phones need to be better integrated with cars, so they respond to voice commands, etc. -  Come to think of it, I'm sure I had a cell phone in the 90's that could dial a number based on a voice command...  what happened???

They ought to be integrated such that they are completely disabled when the car is in motion. Study after study has shown that it's the act of being absorbed in a conversation or other task that is not driving that is dangerous, not the physically holding your phone in your hand part. Something has changed dramatically in society in just the last 20 years or so in that people have become so addicted to instant gratification. It used to be if someone wasn't at home it was just expected to not be able to reach them that instant. If I'm driving my car I don't answer my phone, whoever is trying to reach me can wait until I get to my destination.

Integrating phones into cars is a bad idea for technological reasons too IMO. Phones become obsolete in just a few years, meanwhile a reasonably good quality car should last 20 years or more. We're already starting to see a lot of not so old cars with a bunch of hopelessly obsolete integrated technology. I wish they would bring back the standard DIN slot which makes it possible to select a head unit that has whatever features you want and stick it in there, upgrading any time you choose.

Some people (including me) don't even like talking with passengers when I'm driving, unless it is a cruise on a wide open road...    But I have never felt that taking a phone call on the car speakers has been a problem as long as I am on an easy cruise on the highway and not in some complicated urban traffic scenario.  If the circumstances don't permit it, I don't answer the phone...  driving the car gets the priority! :D

I recently updated a double-DIN slot radio in a 12 year old car which is solid and beautiful in every other respect.  But I know what you mean, there are some models that have gone overboard with integration to the point where it is probably impossible to update them.  One might suspect this is intentional, it is obvious that manufacturers are strictly sticking to the official specification of 10 years / 100K miles for a car.


 

Offline james_s

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Re: When driving and mobile/car phones were legal
« Reply #33 on: November 03, 2020, 03:47:56 am »
While those views might well be appropriate to the casual private phone user they certainly aren't to the business user where in the last 40 years mobile phones have saved them innumerous costs and time.
Those that just drive to and from work not so much however those out and about everyday as part of their job the cellphone is now an indispensable part of their tool kit.

I don't care, that is not my problem. My (and everyone else's) safety is more important than the increased profit someone may be able to earn if they jabber on the phone while behind the wheel instead of focusing on driving. I was in a serious accident several years ago caused by someone who was absorbed in their conversation and not watching what was in front of their 75,000 pound tanker truck. I have had several other close calls, both in my car and as a pedestrian due to self absorbed dickwads who thought their phone conversation was more important than paying attention to where they're going. If a person simply must be on the phone while travelling by car on crowded urban roads then they should hire a driver. When I was still commuting to an office I rode the bus and I would see people every single day yakking on the phone while drifting around in their lane on the highway and it has gotten to the point where I'm just fed up. Screw them, driving is a privilege, those who can't or won't do it responsibly need to be given a very expensive lesson, it should be dealt with the way we deal with drunk driving.
 
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