The BBC on mobile phone technology in cars:
It has been illegal to use a mobile phone while driving since December 2003 – with offenders facing a £60 on-the-spot fine and three points on their licence.
No, it is illegal to use hand held mobile phones while driving. It is legal to use a hands-free kit. However, if the conversation causes the driver to lose concentration then they could be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention; an offence that was on the statute book before the hand-held ban, making the legislation entirely unnecessary.
As for the technology being discussed:
A safety device which prevents drivers using mobile phones by automatically intercepting calls and text messages when they are moving has been unveiled.
The software tells callers the person they are trying to reach is driving and asks them to leave a message.
An employer may well decide that the risk is too great and may then decide to ban the use of phones while driving on pain of disciplinary action. I am aware of some employers that have taken this line. That’s fair enough – their car, their time, their rules. They may find this type of technology desirable. Again, if you work for such a company, you know the rules. What worries me is that the government might just seize upon the idea – being unrepentant control freaks to a man and woman.
I occasionally take a call when on the road. Generally, I prefer not to – indeed, I take RoSPA’s point about distraction. However, I make a judgement based upon the conditions before answering or rejecting the call. It isn’t difficult.
“A safety device which prevents drivers using mobile phones by automatically intercepting calls and text messages when they are moving has been unveiled.”
Eh..? Don’t pretty nearly all mobiles have this capability already? It’s called ‘switching your phone to voicemail’…
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Indeed so. There may be a place for employers to enforce their policies, but, frankly, if the policy is communicated and enforced through the normal disciplinary channels, the technology isn’t needed. But, then, neither is the plethora of new legislation we’ve been subjected to this past decade.
However, moving at speed is NOT the same as driving, so the technology as described prevents you using your phone while a passenger in a car, bus, or train.
Indeed so and there is nothing illegal about passengers using hand-held phones. That said, I could cheerfully strangle those people who talk loudly on their phones on train journeys. That, though is illegal.
So it’s speed that causes it to kick in? Tough luck then if your bus driver has a heart attack at the wheel and you want to call the emergency services. Or you see a crime from your train window/another carriage and want to report it…
Just another ill-thought-out technological ‘solution’ to a problem that only affects those without the wit to think or take responsibility for themselves.
Still, since that pool seems to be ever growing, you can’t blame the company for looking to the future! 😉
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