Comments on: New Hands-Free Accessories and Cases from Palm

Sort of an aside, but you DID mention it so a target for a comment, is that studies have shown it is the talking, not the hands-on use, that makes cellphone use during driving a dangerous thing.

-- http://www.psych.utah.edu/AppliedCognitionLab/

Here's a summary from another study:

== "...increased risk was similar for males and females, younger and older
== drivers, and hands-free and hand-held phones. A number of jurisdictions
== in the United States and around the world have made it illegal for drivers
== to use hand-held phones. Studies of these laws show only limited compliance
== and unclear effects on safety.CONCLUSIONS: Even if total compliance with
== bans on drivers' hand-held cell phone use can be achieved, crash risk will
== remain to the extent that drivers continue to use or switch to hands-free
== phones..."

-- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=16854702

Hear hear! I second this notion. I think that we should ban conversation altogether in cars. There should be a sound-proof divider between the passenger and the driver so that he or she is not distracted by meaningless conversation. No radios, no conversation, nothing. Just driving. Then we'll all be safe.

OK, seriously, I'm completely against the mother of 6 kids in the minivan talking on the cell phone, yelling at her kids putting on makeup and eating a donut while trying to drive, but there has to be a logical end to all of this. I know my personal abilities, and I can talk on a hands-free phone with absolutely no effect on my driving. I do this all the time. It's just like having a conversation with someone in the next seat. Now, I'm sure this isn't true for all people, but I think the bottom line is to know your own abilities, and to not be stupid. If you can't talk on the phone while driving, don't.

Arthur

Palm Pilot 1000 > Palm Pilot Professional > Palm III > Palm M100 > Sony Clié PEG-T415 > Palm T|T3 > Samsung SCH-i730 > Palm 700p

> ...I know my personal abilities, and I can talk on a hands-free
> phone with absolutely no effect on my driving...

One of the studies addresses just this:

-- http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0272-4332.2004.00434.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=risk

That is to say, you're overly optimistic about your own driving and talking ability...

Giggle.

There are also studies that show that the use of safety equipment such as seatbelts and airbags creates an impression of safety that causes people to be slightly less careful in their driving--enough to offset some or all of the protective benefit of the equipment in many cases. I had an economics professor in college that suggested (half jokingly) a better way to reduce accident related fatalities: mandate that car manufacturers install a long, sharp metal spike to the steering column that points right at the drivers' chest. Just a guess, but I'll bet that would probably cause people to more realistically assess the risk of talking on their mobile while driving, too. ;-)

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog