Advanced Driving Hub

Just watching the second programme in the BBC 'Ambulance' series. One crew travelling on blues. Since there's a second crew member in the cab, does the driver really need to look at the display screen, looking at it several times for 2-3 seconds each time?

Not a great idea . . .

The wife and I both commented on that as well

One pet gripe of mine is the use of body-worn radios by police officers when they're in a car. Apparently there is a way to pair the personal handset with the car, but it appears rarely done.

Ordinary mortals can't use (for perfectly good reasons) phones in their hands, so why is it right for police drivers to take a hand off the wheel to operate a handset - especially when there's a perfectly viable alternative?

dvenman wrote:why is it right for police drivers to take a hand off the wheel to operate a handset?

Because the rf frequencies are different ...

dvenman wrote:One pet gripe of mine is the use of body-worn radios by police officers when they're in a car. Apparently there is a way to pair the personal handset with the car, but it appears rarely done.

Ordinary mortals can't use (for perfectly good reasons) phones in their hands, so why is it right for police drivers to take a hand off the wheel to operate a handset - especially when there's a perfectly viable alternative?

Not sure what you mean by "pair"? The personal radio and the vehicle radio can be on the same or different Talk Groups (TG).
The vehicle radio still needs a PTT activation - used to be a switch on the end of a flexible "tube" coming off the steering column or a switch on the gear stick. Both need one hand coming off the steering wheel (unless travelling in a straightish line with no discernible steering input alterations).
As best I can tell Airwave (Tetra) didn't have a VOX capability for normal TG operation. This was a few years ago, so maybe it's different now, but I don't see Plod simply chatting away on the television shows, they're always pressing something. The system is supposed to be replaced soon though.

Anyway, it's a bit of a moot point as anyone can use a hand held two way radio whilst driving - like Clarkson and his chums in their driving escapades.

... and in any case, it's not the hand off the wheel when using a mobile phone that is the big problem; it's the conversation itself.

A call on a hands-free kit is every bit as much of a distraction as a hand-held one.

dvenman wrote:Ordinary mortals can't use (for perfectly good reasons) phones in their hands, so why is it right for police drivers to take a hand off the wheel to operate a handset - especially when there's a perfectly viable alternative?

The law is seldom totally logical...

- illegal to use a mobile phone to make a call
- legal to use a track pad / mouse device built into the car
- legal to use the audio system to call up your contacts and make a phone call (even if less intuitive / harder than on your phone!)
- illegal to hold your phone to make a call
- legal to use the microphone from a CB / VHF type radio
- legal to light a match and set fire to a cigarette in your mouth!

the law is an ass

Alasdair

Strangely Brown wrote:... and in any case, it's not the hand off the wheel when using a mobile phone that is the big problem; it's the conversation itself.

A call on a hands-free kit is every bit as much of a distraction as a hand-held one.

Exactly.

akirk wrote:

dvenman wrote:Ordinary mortals can't use (for perfectly good reasons) phones in their hands, so why is it right for police drivers to take a hand off the wheel to operate a handset - especially when there's a perfectly viable alternative?

The law is seldom totally logical...

- illegal to use a mobile phone to make a call
- legal to use a track pad / mouse device built into the car
- legal to use the audio system to call up your contacts and make a phone call (even if less intuitive / harder than on your phone!)
- illegal to hold your phone to make a call
- legal to use the microphone from a CB / VHF type radio
- legal to light a match and set fire to a cigarette in your mouth!

the law is an ass

Alasdair

Agreed entirely.