Mobile phones

[crr003]

While there's stuff like this available, what possible chance is there of closing the stable door?

http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/zerotouch

"ZeroTouch is the only car phone holder with voice control. Because life doesn’t wait for you to park."

And:
https://www.toyota-europe.com/world-of- ... irobo-mini

[GTR1400MAN]

While there's stuff like this available, what possible chance is there of closing the stable door?

http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/zerotouch

"ZeroTouch is the only car phone holder with voice control. Because life doesn’t wait for you to park."

I watched the demo video



Absolutely ZERO requirement to do any of that while driving. Anyone who says they can do all that while not affecting their concentration ... well words fail me.

[crr003]

Absolutely ZERO requirement to do any of that while driving. Anyone who says they can do all that while not affecting their concentration ... well words fail me.

Not sure - the capability to order pizza is pretty cool!
And
"HANDS-FREE CHAT
Reply to incoming WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Google Hangout messages on the road."

And he can do it in a LHD too!
https://youtu.be/lFfcztm--zw

[akirk]

If you want a bit of fun - have a look at Ford's 'Sync' option where the car reads text messages to you as they come in:
https://owner.ford.com/how-tos/sync-tec ... sages.html

it needs you to be below 3mph to respond (so that will be a traffic jam / stopped at lights etc.)

so a major manufacturer is encouraging use of a form of communication which we would naturally assume to be not appropriate in a car (text messages) - I assume that Ford would argue that their method brings safety - an alternative argument is that it encourages something which could distract from driving... who is right?!

Alasdair

[Strangely Brown]

While there's stuff like this available, what possible chance is there of closing the stable door?

http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/zerotouch

"ZeroTouch is the only car phone holder with voice control. Because life doesn’t wait for you to park."

All of that is a direct copy of Apple CarPlay and Siri, and it all relies on a completely stable 4G data connection.

I have a CarPlay head unit in my car (Pioneer SPH-DA120) and when you have a decent data connection you can indeed do "eyes free" texts and all of the things in the video, but the whole process absolutely *DOES* kill the concentration on the drive. I would argue that it does so even more than a phone conversation, and I know this from 1st hand experience of trying it when I first got it.

Having tried it for myself and found it seriously flawed, I do not use it. The only time my phone is connected to CarPlay now is for the rare occasions that I use Apple Maps Navigation or the iPod functionality.

ETA: on Alasdair's point above, all of the manufacturers that are adopting Apple CarPlay [*] are also "encouraging" the same thing. It could be argued that the technology is an attempt to mitigate the problems associated with an activity that people are going to do anyway. I think that like bluetooth car kits, it will only increase the prevalence of "distracted driving".

[*] https://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/

[jont-]

ETA: on Alasdair's point above, all of the manufacturers that are adopting Apple CarPlay [*] are also "encouraging" the same thing. It could be argued that the technology is an attempt to mitigate the problems associated with an activity that people are going to do anyway. I think that like bluetooth car kits, it will only increase the prevalence of "distracted driving".

Which comes back to my fundamental problem - our approach to road safety seems to be implicitly accepting of this - rather than get these people off the roads, all efforts seem to be instead tying to get people to crash more slowly, rather than not crash. If I spent all day working with people who'd rather be do anything other than their day job, I'd leave the company. I'm increasingly unhappy that I'm expected to share the roads with people who would rather be doing anything other than /driving the bloody car/.

[Matt1962]

It definitely more hazardous to hold the phone, but the difference in risk level compared to hands free isn't necessarily as pronounced as one might assume.

Maybe, but the crucial distinction is: holding a phone and operating it involves inevitable driving impairment; having a hands free phone connected doesn't.

I think it is quite possible for the demands of driving to be sufficiently low for a driver to manage holding a phone at the same time. The same applies to using a hands-free phone. Apart from not contravening the prohibition, using a hands-free phone simply provides more opportunities to use the phone safely. I'm surprised that having put so much effort into defending the capacity of drivers to manage risk using hands-free that you dismiss that possibility so readily for hand-held use.

I don't agree. Although it is obviously possible to operate a hand held phone whilst driving, I think it would be much harder to avoid being distracted by it. Turning all your attention away from a hands free call back to driving can be instantaneous - not so if you have to first decide when to put the phone down.

[Strangely Brown]

Turning all your attention away from a hands free call back to driving can be instantaneous [...]

Only if your paying attention to the hands-free call has not caused you to miss the very thing that requires you to switch your attention back instantaneously.

[Matt1962]

Turning all your attention away from a hands free call back to driving can be instantaneous [...]

Only if your paying attention to the hands-free call has not caused you to miss the very thing that requires you to switch your attention back instantaneously.

I was thinking more in terms of returning to the decision making process than actually reacting to an emergency (which you should have allowed for in your driving plan anyway).

[Strangely Brown]

How can you consciously "return to the decision making process" if your conscious is consumed by the phone call?