You entitled to your opinion Mick. But as ron mentions above, read the link and work from Cranfield Uni - your opinion may change, as mine did. I'm the coverted

Clairel has already answered the vast majority of your post Mick. I would just like to add to the above point that there is a major difference, between the phone and the other items, i.e. unpredictable and dynamic, that being a conversation between two people. Which can continually require decision making, every few seconds. Extremely high risk I would suggest.

The issue here should not be whether or not I can be “converted” to agree with your opinion which, I must admit, is the most popular one. I simply have a different opinion and it’s one that’s every bit as valid. Clairel, although I can see that you believe your case to be water tight I remain unconvinced. The points put forward at #38 are each, in turn, either flawed or incorrect. To answer your first point, I never mentioned you by name at all. Secondly, your point regarding laptops and cameras is sensationalist at best. I’ve suggested that because work phone are provided then the company must follow this with reasonable expectation of use, including in the car. To suggest that I would also endorse use of the other items, while driving, is a cheap shot. Regarding smoking, drinking coffee etc. being held against you in court, this is, again, an exaggeration. You won’t be charged with drinking a coffee whilst driving or any of the other minor distractions we choose to bring into our cars with us. You will be charged with not being in reasonable control of your car (or whatever the legal definition is). In your final paragraph you suggest that I feel cars are dangerous anyway so we should do what we want. Nothing could be further from the truth. I would ask that you read my post at #37 again and consider that you may have misinterpreted. I did make the point that perhaps if we made driving illegal then lots of people could be saved. This was in direct response to a point made in earlier posts suggesting that making phone use (hands free or not) illegal would save lives and that it was therefore somehow justified. (I’m disappointed that I had to spell that out). On the subject of phone use in cars let me say this. I believe that the task of the driver (maintaining adequate levels of concentration towards performing the primary task of safely driving a car) is getting harder every year. As drivers we actively bring distractions into the car and there’s already plenty in there in the first place. For me, the real issue is the human factor. The ability of the driver to structure their experience so that the existing distractions are managed in the right way. Are distractions and or how to deal with them addressed during driver training? As a final note, l’d like to point out that I did find research that showed an improvement in driver performance as a direct result of having had a phone conversation. I should also add the research was based on the effect of phone conversations on the effects of fatigue/loss of concentration due to long, boring distance driving. I don’t consider this to be the final word on this topic, just an opinion to the contrary.