Hands free cell law
Posted: 02 July 2008 08:49 AM     [ Ignore ]  
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In California they are now not allowed to talk on the cell phone while driving or they get a ticket. I think this is a good law and should be in effect everywhere. I have almost hit people because they werent paying attention to the road and were talking on their cell phone. They should do something about this everywhere, maybe now that they started it in California they will start it everywhere, I would be happy if they did. What are you views on this?

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Posted: 02 July 2008 09:16 AM   [ # 1 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]  
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I dont really agree. Hands Free for my car is really inconvienent and I can drive fine when i pickup/answer a phone call. Its no difference than talking to someone in your car. Its the same attention focus. Only difference is it requires your hand. Well most people drive with one hand anyways so its not a big deal. What about people who drive standard. Simple, shift with your cell phone in hand or learn to coordinate yourself.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 09:48 AM   [ # 2 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]  
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This law is obviously there to protect you and other drivers on the road.  Just because you can drive while holding your phone it doesn’t mean others can.  Others may end up concentrating on their phone call and have an accident on the road.  I like this rule.  Besides, you can get bluetooth for your cellphone if you need to talk in your car.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 10:13 AM   [ # 3 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]  
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Shan Gee - 02 July 2008 12:48 PM

This law is obviously there to protect you and other drivers on the road.  Just because you can drive while holding your phone it doesn’t mean others can.  Others may end up concentrating on their phone call and have an accident on the road.  I like this rule.  Besides, you can get bluetooth for your cellphone if you need to talk in your car.

Well there are a million other things people do in the car while driving which causes the drive to focus on something other than driving. Not being able to drive go beyond being able to talk on a cell phone. Someone who cant drive while using a cell phone probably can’t drive very well in general. So maybe it is done to protect others but if their terrible drivers to begin with. Stopping them from using a cell phone won’t be very useful.

Edit: Mind you I dont live in the states so my scenario isn’t quite the same.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 10:48 AM   [ # 4 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]  
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I agree…there are a million other things that people do while driving that are more likely to cause an accident then talking on a phone. I’ve seen people putting makeup on, reading the paper, folding clothes, changing clothes, shaving all while driving. I’d have to say all those tasks a little more distracting then talking on a phone while driving. And guess who I see talking on the phone the most while driving. The cops. Its nothing more than to give the cops something to do.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 11:35 AM   [ # 5 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]  
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I think the cell phone laws are important. People have a tendency to drop everything to answer the phone. If they are not using bluetooth they are all over the place looking for the phone. I think the law should include that the phones should have voice activated dialing.  Because in the time it takes to look for that ringing phone or dial a number you could drive off the road, run someone over, hit another car, or kill yourself.

Just a thought.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 02:20 PM   [ # 6 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]  
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But thats no different then someone scavenging for something they drop out of their purse or wallet. Or realizing they are missing something and start looking for it. I just see it as something that doesn’t necessarly do much.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 02:53 PM   [ # 7 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 7 ]  
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Thats true but people shouldnt be messing with anything while driving and you should drive with two hands. Ever since the cellphone came out more people are wrecking because they are to into their call or think of someone to call while driving and look down to dial the number. That is dangerous and why risk someones life just to make a call, I think the law should go in effect. If you have to make a call or answer one then pull over. Thats what I do and if I drop something in the car I dont go looking for it until I am somewhere where I can get out and get it, just common sense, and respect for others on the road.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 05:16 PM   [ # 8 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 8 ]  
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No one drives with two hands though. Maybe 5% of all drivers actually drive using two hands. Especially those who drive standard. I personally have one hand free on the shifter constantly as city driving involves alot of shifting. And cell phones arent the least of it. You have people who are fiddling with their stereos trying to put a cd in or find a song which involves more concentration then picking up a phone. But would it seem smart to ban the use of your car stereo. Not really.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 06:17 PM   [ # 9 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 9 ]  
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gohan_bcc1 - 02 July 2008 08:16 PM

No one drives with two hands though. Maybe 5% of all drivers actually drive using two hands. Especially those who drive standard. I personally have one hand free on the shifter constantly as city driving involves alot of shifting. And cell phones arent the least of it. You have people who are fiddling with their stereos trying to put a cd in or find a song which involves more concentration then picking up a phone. But would it seem smart to ban the use of your car stereo. Not really.

I have driven a stick for a number of years, and when I am not shifting I have both hand on the steering wheel. I just think that cell phones are another added distraction that the driver doesn’t need, along with all the others you have stated.  I worked with someone that got into a accident because they were answering a cell phone and killed someone. So that may be why I feel the way I do.

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Posted: 02 July 2008 07:36 PM   [ # 10 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 10 ]  
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You can change a stereo at a stoplight, unlike a call unless you talk really fast, and you shouldnt be changing the station while you are driving. I know from where I live you are suppose to drive with both hands, I know alot of people dont, but they should and not talking about when you have to shift gears thats understandable. Its just common sense to pay attetion to the road and I have about hit I dont know how many people because they werent paying any attention to the road and they were talking on their cell more then I have almost hit anyone adjusting their stereo. And to be honest I havent almost hit anyone while they were changing stations.

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Posted: 05 July 2008 04:18 PM   [ # 11 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 11 ]  
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I live in Washington State and we have the same law that went into effect. It’s a pretty good idea for the most part, except that most voice dialing doesn’t work very well so you still have to fiddle with the phone to dial out. If all you are doing is answering calls though then there is no reason that you shouldn’t have a bluetooth. They were made to make your life easier, not harder. I bought one because of that law, and now I am glad I did. It has made driving and talking much more simplified. I never thought it would, but it did.

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Posted: 05 July 2008 06:01 PM   [ # 12 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 12 ]  
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Bluetooth works great. You can hear the call better. Even if it weren’t the law here (New York) I would use it. With bluetooth depending on the phone it will voice dial.  I wlsh the iphone had the option to voice dial, or that someone would come up with a voice dialing app for it. That is one app I sure would buy.

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Posted: 06 July 2008 10:38 AM   [ # 13 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 13 ]  
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The big fancy Iphone has no voice dial?!?!? My cheapo Nokia phone even has voice dial. Someone must make an app. for that with a quickness. Even if it’s like all the other voice dials and it only recognizes half of what you say, it would still be better than no voice dial. Sorry about getting slightly off-topic, just had to comment ton that though. 😊

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Posted: 06 July 2008 02:34 PM   [ # 14 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 14 ]  
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Doesnt really matter to me if it has voice dial or not. None of the cell phones I have had have had it. Cant miss something I’ve never had. It would be nice to try this feature out though, might be easier to dial someone if the phone hears you right. Wouldnt be much help if it only recognized only half of what you say, you still would end up dialing the number anyway.

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Posted: 06 July 2008 03:03 PM   [ # 15 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 15 ]  
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Voice Dial is awesome, when it works right. Unfortunately, I can’t ever seem to get mine to be consistent. Some days it will work great and recognize 90% of what I say. Other days, I can’t get the thing to dial one right number no matter how much I try. It’s a nice idea, but as far as I am concerned, it’s still in development.

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Posted: 07 July 2008 09:58 AM   [ # 16 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 16 ]  
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Well maybe they will get it right someday, I wouldnt mind having it if it would work. I am used to not having it, so it dont really matter. I wouldnt want to be trying to call one person and it dial another that would be kinda funny considering who it would call. But I am sure they are working on it and trying to make it better.

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Posted: 07 July 2008 10:23 AM   [ # 17 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 17 ]  
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I know that there is a 3 party app for voice dialing http://www.makayama.com/iphonevoicedial.html but I was hoping for one from apple. I think with this one you have to have a “jail break” iphone, not really sure.

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Posted: 07 July 2008 09:23 PM   [ # 18 ]     [ Ignore ]   [ # 18 ]  
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Well if I ever get a iPhone maybe I’ll try it. Never had to jailbreak anything before and actually I googled that just to see what that was. Now at least when I see that I will know what someone is talking about. Never had heard of that before until I started coming to this site, maybe I will learn some more tech talk…lol.

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