Mobile phones and driving

[dogbreath]

Now that it's been shown that using a mobile phone means it takes you much longer to stop your car than if you've been drinking, what possible excuse could there be for not banning it?

[PDTV]

I'm with you on that dogbreath - people who use mobiles while driving are the most arrogant people on earth. They're so 'busy' that they can't possibly wait five minutes to take a call, but have blatant disregard for those around them. It's so obvious that using a mobile while driving is insane - it's already banned in australia, belgium, brazil, Czech republice, chile, denmark, germany, greece, Hong kong, hungary, Ireland, Israel, italy, Japan, malaysia, norway, phillipines, poland, portugal, romania, singapore, slovak republic, south africa, soutj korea, spain, switzerland, taiwan, thailand, thailand, turkey and some states of the US.

[andy hughes]

I'm with you too, dogbreath, there is no rational reason for people to use mobiles while driving. It's a proven fact that people's concentration levels on mobiles are different than conversations with passengers. I use a 'hands-free' in my office, and |'ve lost count of the times I've bumped into furniture, and colleagues, walking and talking on the phone - which is no big deal, I'm not in charge of a ton of metal at forty m.p.h.! Ban it now, and let's be sensible for once.

[Susmith]

Yes, what was all that fuss about fox hunting when we should be banning mobiles in cars - who cares about a few foxes anyway?

[incitatus]

valid excuses none. politician style excuses, lots, because of the large numbers of voters who use mobile phones, the vested interests of party donors and the depressed nature of the it market. Most probably they will specify a form of hands-free considered safe and enforce that, if they do anything at all. Which they wont. Largely agree with hughester that phones are worse than passengers UNLESS passenger is girlfriend/wife/significant other in which case emotional blackmail/news about latest bout of retail therapy/sudden swings of mood far more offputting than any imaginable phonecall. Doubt that enforced gagging of significant others(of whatever gender) will happen either.

[dogbreath]

I disagree that it's just as dangerous to talk to the passenger - no matter what state they're in. Any disgreements/intense emotional discussions can be dealt with by silences or facial expressions, leaving the driver to concentrate on the driving. Long meaningful silences were designed for driving conversations of all sorts, but are hard to maintain on a mobile phone. In my experience, life-changing conversations held with a real person sitting in the car beside you are far less life-threatening than a chat on a mobile - and you'll usually find that your passenger is all too ready to point out any potential danger on the road!

[MistyLady]

What about other distractions...mis-behaving children, annoying passengers, the nodding dog in the back window of the car in front, singing along to the radio, playing bongo drums on the steering wheel in tune with the radio, shouting at chat on Radio 4, those silly tree air freshners hanging from mirrors, smoking......should all these be banned as well. Have tests been made on these distractions as well as the mobile phone tests?