Mobile 'Hands' Free

I picked up my dad's Dire last night and caught a bit about the change
in the law about using mobile phones while in a car. There was a bit in
there about hand free kits being okay but only if they are part of the
car. The inference was that the wire ones were not okay anymore,
presumably because people still use their hands to dial and the like.

Is this correct? If so that's going to be a bit of a bummer for anyone
who's just forked out £lots for a bluetooth portable handsfree [1] isn't
it?

Cheers

[1] Someone I know has.

 

A small price to pay for getting safer (well marginally safer) roads. Mobile
phone using drivers are more dangerous than drunk drivers in my personal
experience.

Manning

 

From what I can gather from the many debates in the media so far,
the law is to do with whether the phone is attached to the car
or not. So a phone in a dashboard cradle is OK irrespective of
whether it's wired or Buetooth. A phone chucked on the
passenger seat is illegal even if it you have a Bluetooth phone
and headset.

In an interview with the editor of 'Stuff' on R5 the other day,
he said that they recommended Bluetooth over wired just
because there are no wires to get in the way.

HTH

 

The full text of the Regulation is here:
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032695.htm

Bluetooth's fine, as it doesn't have to be held. Any area of grey comes
when people hold the microphone part of the hands-free wire up to the mouth.

 

So if you're on the phone, it's best to be a bit pissed to even out the
odds a bit.

That's handy...

 

When I saw something about it, the main point was that if you're dialing,
you should not have to hold the entire phone to do so. Dashboard mounted
handsfree kits are ok, because you *must* be able to dial or answer calls
by only using your fingertips.

That said, what a lot of people don't realise is that with a lot of
phones, you can set the phonebook up to record your voice and then simply
press one key, then speak the name of the person to dial.

I do think, however, that if they're going to ban people from holding
phones, they should ban people from smoking whilst driving, because I've
encountered so many people wobbling all over the road whilst trying to
light a ciggie.

 

Not really. I'm getting a wired in Bluetooth for my company car so
that's not a problem. However I have a wire hands free for my wifes car,
which I use more often anyway (when I'm not on the bike). With voice
dialling on my phone (T610) I don't think there's a lot of difference
between the two to be honest as I don't have to take my eyes off the
road and only have to press a button on the wires free to call or answer
if needed.

To be honest I don't use the phone that often in the car anyway but it
would be a downer to get pulled over using the wire hands free.

Maybe I'll stop using it on the bike though

 

The point was: wired hands-free and Bluetooth are both OK as long
as the phone is attaced to the car using a dashboard cradle.

Might be a good idea. )

 

Not quite, if you have a bluetooth you can still answer it as that is doen
from a touch to the headset.

What you *cannot* do is dial as that would mean touching/holding the
phone.

So , if you have a bluetooth set for the motorbike you can still chat to
friends who ring you. Has anyone else rung Sniper when he is on his bike
:=}

 

They have laws already capable of doing this, the same law could be
appiled to mobiles if they had bothered.

People have been done for drinking water while driving.

 

Only for incoming calls.

 

Eh? Bluetooth is not held; it hangs off your ear. You can answer by
voice-command or by tapping the 'answer' button on the head-set. You can
make calls by voice-command. You could also make calls while it sits in a
cradle, which would not involve 'holding' it. Stultifying dull nit-picking
stuff, I grant you, but that's what law is all about, innit!

 

Found it

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/supplements/y2000/june.html

Ended up with a £40ukp fine :=}

 

Bluetooth is not a device.

 

Oh, well, forgive my fucking verbal shorthand.

Ahem. Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, it is the unswerving contention of
the Defence in this case that the Bluetooth-compatible earpiece ['the
device'] hangs off the ear. As neither it nor the mobile telephone ['the
other device'] itself is 'held', in the wording of the relevant Regulation,
calls may legally be both made and received, when in charge of a motorised
vehicle on the move, while employing the Bluetooth connection between the
device and the other device. I thank you for your diligence and attention,
and for reaching the only possible verdict in the light of the evidence put
before you.

Happy now? ;-)

 

I don't make the rules.

Which is ok for incoming calls

Which is fine if
a) You have programed the phone
b) you can store more than 10 in the phone , my Nokia is restrictd by
speed dial.
c) You don't have a cold.

nit-picking

Which, as others have already said, apparently OK to touch, providing it is in the
cradle.

No, it is about politicians pretending they are doing something because
the police arn't doing their jobs.

 

Nah, if I follow you argument I should hang my phone from my ear when
connecting to my laptop.

 

Yes and why is it that, in this case, the Police [1] have assumed the right
to allow a two-month grace period before enforcing the law? It's
Parliament's job to make law, and the job of the Police to enforce it. The
due date for this regulation to come into force was December 1st. I somehow
can't see them applying the same degree of latitude in the case of ... oooh,
let's see ... speed cameras, for the want of a better example.

[1] Even more bizarrely, in England and Wales but not Scotland.

 

Now you're just being silly, you naughty boy. Still, if your piercing is
strong enough, go for it.

 

<snip>

The whole thing is bollox anyway.

I read a great column from the great LJK Setright the other day,
mostly about speeding, where he argued that there should only be one
driving offense - "Unsatisfactory driving".