Wickham's musings from Chalke

 
Today a law came into effect banning the use of mobile phones in cars if hand-held. Vehicles must be stationary with the engine turned off, or phones in a cradle with a headset must be used.

It always amazes me how many of our new laws don’t seem to be properly thought through. I support the banning of mobile phone use in vehicles, but why only if hand-held?

Apparently studies have shown that just talking to someone makes a driver four times as likely to have an accident. It isn’t the same as talking to another person in the car. The person on the other end of the phone has no comprehension of the traffic conditions and won’t unconsciously pause when there is a difficult driving situation and the driver doesn’t feel able to say “hang on a minute”.

Phones held in a cradle and connected to the person by a headset can still be used. So instead of holding the phone next to the steering wheel and tapping in the numbers while still looking at the road and the phone at the same time, now drivers will be leaning down to a phone cradle below the radio or near the handbrake and trying to tap in numbers while taking their eyes off the road.

A very common use of mobile phones is when caught up in a motorway crawl when someone is going to be late picking up little Johnny from school. You cannot stop on the hard shoulder to make a call, neither is it a good idea to turn off the engine to make a call if the traffic has stopped as vehicles behind will soon hoot if it starts again. People will still be tempted to use hand-held phones in this situation as it will seem that there is no alternative and delays can often last for hours with no escape route.