Vodafone supports calls for ban on handheld mobiles in cars

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Vodafone supports calls for ban on handheld mobiles in cars

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#116598 14-Mar-2008 11:36

good points all, and I still commend Vodafone for taking the initiative. It's pretty hard to put the human face on a global organisation, or even a national one. And these days one good turn can be wiped away by a small mistake or accident...so if I were to say anything more it'd be to recommend Vodafone stick to their guns on this and keep that initiative in the public eye. The human side of a company is quickly lost when say, for example, someone's power is turned off for legitimate reasons but that someone is dependent on that power - we all know the rest of the story. Good job Vodafone, just keep speaking the message and you'll gain the respect of the public.

wnelson

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#116600 14-Mar-2008 12:12

alasta: Surely as a society we have to retain some faith that the vast majority of us have enough common sense to avoid these behaviours regardless of whether they are legal.

I'd normally agree with you. We seem to draft up legislation at every whim but in this case I think it is justified.

This is my personal experience: I live in the UK. 2 or 3 years ago I didn't think twice about talking on the cell when driving. About 12 months ago (maybe longer) legislation was brought in to ban using a cell phone whilst driving (unless hands-free).

Now I'm not sure if it was the threat of a fine or the publicity surrounding the legislation that stopped me using the cell when driving but either way I don't anymore. And although I have BT, I don't use that either (there was a study that said this was just as dangerous as holding the phone - it wasn't legislated for because they claimed it would be too hard to enforce).

You may be better than me, but it took the legislation and publicity to make me realise how stupid I had been.

Wayne

alasta

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#116608 14-Mar-2008 13:23

wnelson: I live in the UK. 2 or 3 years ago I didn't think twice about talking on the cell when driving. About 12 months ago (maybe longer) legislation was brought in to ban using a cell phone whilst driving (unless hands-free).

Now I'm not sure if it was the threat of a fine or the publicity surrounding the legislation that stopped me using the cell when driving but either way I don't anymore.

To be honest I'm actually a bit surprised that people find it physically possible to drive while holding a phone. If you have one hand changing gear and the other hand holding a phone then how many hands do you have on the steering wheel?

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#116609 14-Mar-2008 13:32

alasta:
wnelson: I live in the UK. 2 or 3 years ago I didn't think twice about talking on the cell when driving. About 12 months ago (maybe longer) legislation was brought in to ban using a cell phone whilst driving (unless hands-free).

Now I'm not sure if it was the threat of a fine or the publicity surrounding the legislation that stopped me using the cell when driving but either way I don't anymore.

To be honest I'm actually a bit surprised that people find it physically possible to drive while holding a phone. If you have one hand changing gear and the other hand holding a phone then how many hands do you have on the steering wheel?

um, automatic transmission?

alasta

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#116621 14-Mar-2008 14:32

gehenna:
alasta: To be honest I'm actually a bit surprised that people find it physically possible to drive while holding a phone. If you have one hand changing gear and the other hand holding a phone then how many hands do you have on the steering wheel?

um, automatic transmission?

Ok, didn't think of that...

Still, you really still need to have two hands available for the steering wheel in order to safely negotiate tight corners.

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#116622 14-Mar-2008 14:34

alasta:
To be honest I'm actually a bit surprised that people find it physically possible to drive while holding a phone. If you have one hand changing gear and the other hand holding a phone then how many hands do you have on the steering wheel?

Brian Cowan, a well known NZ motoring journalist with only one arm manages to drive all sorts of vehicles rather quickly at times :)

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#116623 14-Mar-2008 14:34

According to AA stats, just over 80% of the current car fleet (not counting utilitiys) has automatic transmissions, sure surprised me.

Cyril

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Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

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#116625 14-Mar-2008 14:42

cyril7: According to AA stats, just over 80% of the current car fleet (not counting utilitiys) has automatic transmissions, sure surprised me

It would surprise me too. I have driven at least 15 vehicles over the last ten years and as far as I can remember only two of them were automatic. Then again, when I hire a rental car I always request a manual.

I have difficulty with automatics because out of habit I keep reaching for the clutch and end up slamming on the brake instead!

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#117072 17-Mar-2008 08:46

PaulBrislen: Hi all, no product sell in this press release so thought I could safely start a thread...

Vodafone supports legislation banning TXT and hand-held mobile use while driving

Paul

Personally I think this is a load of crap. Both you and Telecom are only supporting this ban because you can sell the suckers another lot of handsfree mobile fones. Safety has very little to do with it.

The other thing that you and the rest of the media seem to forget is that this guy in Timaru was firstly "Drunk" though like running red lite and stop sign this is not an excuse these days for accidents.. I do support a ban on SMS while driving but not mandating handsfree only as I think the action of talking on the fone is the distraction not that you have a fone in one hand and a steering wheel in the other.

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#117073 17-Mar-2008 08:47

alasta:
To be honest I'm actually a bit surprised that people find it physically possible to drive while holding a phone. If you have one hand changing gear and the other hand holding a phone then how many hands do you have on the steering wheel?

Ever heard of a car with a auto trans and power steering??

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#117074 17-Mar-2008 08:56

old3eyes:
PaulBrislen: Hi all, no product sell in this press release so thought I could safely start a thread...

Vodafone supports legislation banning TXT and hand-held mobile use while driving

Paul

Personally I think this is a load of crap. Both you and Telecom are only supporting this ban because you can sell the suckers another lot of handsfree mobile fones. Safety has very little to do with it.

The other thing that you and the rest of the media seem to forget is that this guy in Timaru was firstly "Drunk" though like running red lite and stop sign this is not an excuse these days for accidents.. I do support a ban on SMS while driving but not mandating handsfree only as I think the action of talking on the fone is the distraction not that you have a fone in one hand and a steering wheel in the other.

I think you've misunderstood the situation here. We already include a handsfree headset with every mobile we sell. Almost every mobile is equipped with Bluetooth these days so you can do handsfree and wireless if you want. This isn't about selling "a lot of handsfree mobile fones" and safety has everything to do with it.

And the idea that Vodafone conjured up this stance as a kneejerk reaction to one incident is also not terribly accurate. We've been thinking about this on and off for more than a year as the evidence piles up. It's a big call to support calls for the government to ban your own product. I can be reasonably safe in the assumption that we're the first company to do so.

As I've said elsewhere, legislation alone doesn't solve this problem and neither does "a lot of handsfree mobile fones". You need a three-stage approach - you have technology to make it easy to do (handsfree kits); you have legislation to TELL people this is not acceptable and you have an education campaign to show people that it's socially unacceptable to TXT and drive.

I hope that helps with your understanding.

Cheers

Paul

edit: noticed a typo.

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

tonyhughes

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#117082 17-Mar-2008 09:21

Its the dealers who buy car kits etc from wholesalers to sell to public. As far as I am aware, the telcos themselves sell very little such accessories.

drajk

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#117118 17-Mar-2008 12:40

wnelson: .. And although I have BT, I don't use that either (there was a study that said this was just as dangerous as holding the phone - it wasn't legislated for because they claimed it would be too hard to enforce).

You may be better than me, but it took the legislation and publicity to make me realise how stupid I had been.

Wayne

Well if using BT is as dangerous as holding the phone then surely transporting children in cars should also be banned since obviously they can be more distracting than talking on the phone especially if they are squabbling in the back seat. In fact we'd better ban all passengers as they might talk to the driver!

And while we're at it should we also ban eating, smoking etc....

Also lets ban car stereos as the noise/DJ etc may also be a distraction .... and GPS navigation systems should only be functional when the car is switched off!

We also better ban billboards, advertising, shop signs etc... as they can all be distracting.

And lets not forget that we'll have to lock up all the beautiful women in case they distract male drivers when they see them walking along the street...

REALLY - At the end of the day I agree with alastas statement that "Surely as a society we have to retain some faith that the vast majority of us have enough common sense to avoid these behaviours regardless of whether they are legal." and we need to reinforce that people must take responsibility for their actions and the consequences of those actions. I for one do not want a Nanny-state regulating all aspects of life.

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#117362 18-Mar-2008 18:53

The epitome of stupid mobile use while driving: A bus driver (25 onboard) answering his cellphone and taking a personal call whilst driving along the motoroway at 100km/h... I'm sure I wont be the only one laying a complaint against this stupidity tonight

dman

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#117588 19-Mar-2008 18:23

my quick take on this:

talking on a phone is very similar to talking to a friend in a car, nobody is going to ban that

txting can be done without looking at the phone at all if you are a person who txts heavily, and can be done in bits like while waiting at the lights

https://www.youtube.com/c/SoundSpeeding

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