Posted By Geoff Burt I've no direct knowledge of this but I'm advised there is a hands free headset on the market for drivers. I'm being pushed by a client to accept this as an alternative to a hands free kit. My initial response is distraction, restricted driver head movement, hearing impediment. Any suggestions?

Posted By Bryn Maidment Geoff My understanding is that as long as the driver doesn't have to touch the actual phone / device then a 'Bluetooth' wireless headset is OK. Bluetooth phones tend to have a higher spec than others and generally they are voice dialling, auto activation etc. They don't interfere with movement of the head. They ain't cheap though.

Posted By Robert M Edwards There are two aspects to the legislation, one is the issue of handheld so a head unit providing the phone does not need to be held would not be covered by the legislation. The other aspect is use of anything distracting in the car which is covered by Regulation 104 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 which deals with proper control of the vehicle. This law would be invoked if an accident occured during the taking of a call. It seems given the current focus on use of phones in the car that it is a high risk to any company to allow use of car phones whilst the car is in operation. We have advised all our clients on a policy to ban the use of phones during driving.

Posted By John H Robert M Edwards is quite right in his assessment that "anything distracting in the car which is covered by Regulation 104 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 is an offence". The recent legislation was introduced to clarify that using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving will be considered a criminal offence, thus removing any 'grey area' which might be debated in court. Alas, as is sometimes the case, I feel this legislation was introduced as something of a knee jerk reaction to quell public outcry after several high profile cases of deaths due to drivers having accidents killing others whilst using a mobile phone. I have yet to see any statistics which prove that a mobile phone actually killed anyone - it is the distraction of the driver (whilst using a phone) that causes accidents. To clarify the point that I considered the legislation a knee-jerk reaction, consider if you will the fact that you can still send a text message whilst driving if the phone is in a cradle and not actually 'held' - a much more distracting scenario than that of actually speaking as it requires the driver to focus his/her vision on the phone completely rather than the road. Drivers having conversations with their passengers obviously do not cause accendents then? Its only when they have conversations with their phone? Perhaps they should bring out specific legislation (to remove other grey areas) of woman brushing their hair and applying make-up with the aid of the interior mirror? Personally I use a bluetooth device with voice dialling which I find very convenient and does not impair my hearing of the surrouding area. Indeed, the audio quality is far superior to any in car kit and I find I am no longer 'distracted' by having to strain my ears to decipher what is being heard. Further, I can move my head into any postion I want without going out of range of a 'fixed' microphone and without compromising what I can and cannot look at whilst driving - the experience is therefore (for me) much more like talking to a passenger than 'at a phone'. Our Company operates a strict 'Do not use a mobile phone whilst in a company car' policy and as such, has no need to fit any hands free kits because the use of the phone in the car whilst driving or stationary is banned.

Posted By Chris Abbott Geoff, This is a good one for use - http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,18218,00.html This is the new Boom headset - due April http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,48762,00.html Regards Chris

Posted By Geoff Burt Eric - Chester! remind me, where is that again? I had a look at the Nokia website - seems a good way to go to me for those who 'have' to communicate whilst travelling - and it's legal. Amazing really that we can get so concerned about this topic, to the extent that safety professionals are enthusiastically putting forward total bans which is way beyond the legislative requirements. I can think of many more topics better deserving of this enthusiasm, and which might even help our credibility.

Posted By David J Bristow Geoff I have advised our trustees that they should not condone the use of hands free mobile phone sets whilst our employees are driving on company business. Phones should be switched off at all times whilst driving (for work and pleasure). In light of the chap who has just been sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for killing another car driver whilst he was using a hands free mobile phone kit - ------------SWITCH OFF AT ALL TIMES WHILST DRIVING----------------------- I believe this is the advice we should give to our masters - what do you think? Regards David B

Posted By Geoff Burt But surely David, on that logic we would need to ban every activity that has resulted in a fatality?

Posted By John H "There is little point in having both hands connected to the steering wheel, if the brain is not connected to the hands" - a great analogy! Can I ask therefore, what is the difference between having a conversation with a passenger in a vehicle or having a conversation with a third party via a bluetooth, voice dialling mobile phone? Are we now saying we shouldn't carry passengers in case we get distracted and have an accident? Please, let common sense prevail. Don't make calls and only answer them with a view to keeping them as brief as possible using bluetooth headsets. I have tried a number of these now and found that the smaller £49 ones, like the Jabba (Carphone Warehouse) peform better for me as I 'forget' it is there and am not remnded of its presence with bits of boom sticking in my face. After following this thread with interest, we have taken a novel approach of putting all company mobiles to a pre-recorded message when switch off for driving purposes "We value the safety of our staff, who may be driving at the moment, so they will call you back as soon as it is safe to do so. Please leave your message after the bleep".