Driving and talking on phone (Droid). Headset/mic to avoid driving ticket?

[jiffylube1024]

It's on sale at Newegg today for $39.99 with FS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16875982308

Awesome. Thanks!

 

[Raduque]

Don't.

Hands free cellphone usage has been shown to be just as unsafe as just talking on the phone. The cognitive load of carring on a phone conversation impairs driving regardless of whether or not it's hands free.

If you're driving, please focus on driving, even if it means avoiding calls. It makes everyone a little bit more safe.

Pfft. If you're a dumbass, maybe.

I have a conversation hands-free on my phone, and I'm always paying way more attention to the road than I am to the call. If I find myself being distracted by the call, I'll tell the person on the line "I'll call you back" and hang up.

 

[Mopetar]

Pfft. If you're a dumbass, maybe.

I have a conversation hands-free on my phone, and I'm always paying way more attention to the road than I am to the call. If I find myself being distracted by the call, I'll tell the person on the line "I'll call you back" and hang up.

Yeah, and there's people who can still drive just fine after having a few drinks and there's no way that it could possibly ever happen to them.

Engaging in any type of distracting behavior while driving or even being slightly impaired increases the odds of being in an accident. Millions of people are injured and hundreds of thousands of people die every year in car accidents, many of which are easily preventable.

You've probably driven while talking hundreds of times and it's been fine, but it really only takes slipping up once to completely destroy someone's life.

 

[notposting]

Guess we better eliminate car radios, passengers, pets in the vehicle, and anything else that could be a distraction. The cognitive load is only an impairment to those whose cognitive ability, is let's say, on the lightweight side.

30 or 40% huh? So if we eliminated cell phone use completely while driving, would accidents decrease by 40%? Or would those same idiots manage to wrap themselves around trees in some other way?

 

[cardiac]

Oh, it's not to say those same idiots were also the ones fixing their hair, spilling hot coffee, eating a Whopper, applying lipstick, etc and then wrecking anyway....

 

[lothar]

Don't.

Hands free cellphone usage has been shown to be just as unsafe as just talking on the phone. The cognitive load of carring on a phone conversation impairs driving regardless of whether or not it's hands free.

If you're driving, please focus on driving, even if it means avoiding calls. It makes everyone a little bit more safe.

How is this any different from having a conversation with a passenger in the back seat while driving? How is the cognitive load of carrying a conversation on a phone different from carrying a conversation with a passenger in the back seat?

How is this any different from sipping hot coffee while driving?
How is this any different from munching on a hamburger while driving?

I generally agree with your analysis, but I think either our politicians should ban all those things(including those I mentioned) while driving, or allow them all.
I saw research comparing talking on the phone while driving to using hands-free and it wasn't any different(or was inconclusive rather). Hands-free wasn't proven to be any safer, but yet our politicians are idiots in that regard. If it isn't proven to be any safer, then why ban one and allow the other? Stupid fools.
What I want to see is research comparing both talking on the phone hands-free and talking/holding the phone while driving to doing those activities I mentioned while driving.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

There have been studies done that do show this guys. If you're going to spout off or call someone out (he's a paramedic for frak's sake) you might want to look into it a little bit.

The human brain is a very visual device. We form pictures and images and the like to aid in both cognition and memory. When a person we are talking to is present physically our mind has to do almost no imagining to put images with the cognition (processing the conversation) and the memories being stored of the conversation, etc. When a person we are talking to is on the other side of a phone, our mind involuntarily generates images to go along with the conversation. We imagine what the other person looks like, what they're doing, how their mouth and body are moving as they're speaking. As I said, this is involuntary (some people may do it more, some people may do it less, but everyone does it). The study definitively showed that this extra effort being performed by our brains interferes or inhibits the areas of our brain that we use to control a car.

 

[mosco]

How is this any different from having a conversation with a passenger in the back seat while driving? How is the cognitive load of carrying a conversation on a phone different from carrying a conversation with a passenger in the back seat?

They were talking about this in car talk recently and I kind of agreed with them. I think what happens is that your passenger is more aware of the situation you are driving in than someone on the phone would be. So you are if coming up to some part that's busy or could be an issue, the passenger is more likely to try and be less distracting. Obviously not every case is likely the same, but I can't count the number of times I have passed someone that was doing something stupid, only to see they were on a cell phone.

I am extremely anti-cell phone in the car. I won't even answer the phone of my fiance if I am driving.

 

[Darknite39]

Don't.

Hands free cellphone usage has been shown to be just as unsafe as just talking on the phone. The cognitive load of carring on a phone conversation impairs driving regardless of whether or not it's hands free.

If you're driving, please focus on driving, even if it means avoiding calls. It makes everyone a little bit more safe.

LOL. I had to double check this post to make sure it wasn't mine. I've studied enough cognitive psych to believe this argument, but of course because people get away with it most of the time, their behavior won't change.

edit: I LOLed again at the rest of the posts arguing against the research. Thanks for the educated responses to those posts, guys. Educational thread, which is why I come here..

 

[LokutusofBorg]

... I can't count the number of times I have passed someone that was doing something stupid, only to see they were on a cell phone.

I am extremely anti-cell phone in the car. I won't even answer the phone of my fiance if I am driving.

Hear hear. I am a motorcycle rider, as well as take frequent long car trips (my parents live 1.5 hours away, wife's live three states away). Pretty much every time I ride my motorcycle I have to dodge somebody that would take me out. Pretty much every time we drive to my parents' we encounter three or four drivers that nearly hit us on the freeway. Almost every time it is someone that's texting or talking on their phone.

I give my phone to my wife if it rings while I'm driving. If I'm alone I don't answer it unless I'm at a stoplight or something.

 

[GoodEnough]

It's back to $50. Thanks for the link! I love a deal!
Now.....blah blah blah....yak yak yak....

 

[GoodEnough]

This thing is AWSOME. Only downside is a little static when on FM mode, but the built-in speaker is loud enough. No need for FM at all. Other person can hear you just fine. Blows away the default speaker phone.

 

[notposting]

If you tap the radio button again it will cycle to another FM station, just remember to turn down the stereo heh. Depending where you are at you will hit new areas where stations are in the frequency that was clear 20 miles before. Just hit and cycle to the next clear one. The buttons work pretty good too, if using the FM hitting the left and right buttons cycles through song tracks, I think it changes volume in spkr mode (maybe a long press not sure), and you can pause music etc. The phone button works okay...depending on your phone and how well it will recognize your commands.

 

[gsaldivar]

Remember to post what frequency you choose so we can all listen in...

 

[lothar]

This thing is AWSOME. Only downside is a little static when on FM mode, but the built-in speaker is loud enough. No need for FM at all. Other person can hear you just fine. Blows away the default speaker phone.

That's only because the speaker phone of all HTC phones are crappy to begin with. :whiste:

 

[GoodEnough]

Is there a way for me to use the FM transmitter to play mp3 files from my Incredible 2 over my FM car stereo? Can someone tell me specifics? Do I need an mp3 player app? How do I turn on the connection when playing an mp3? (Like it does it automatically when I make a call)

 

[DefDC]

Ihave the T505. If you're connected to voice, you should already be connected for all audio. I play MP3s/Pandora/Podcasts with mine constantly. You shouldn't need to do anything special.

It's funny, it's more comfortable to talk in the car with this thing, than it is in the house. If I have calls to make, I'll frequently sit in my driveway and make them!

Edit: (That is, if I was coming from or going somewhere. I don't leave my house to make a call)

 

[notposting]

I have seen my OG Droid only connect with phone audio before, have to toggle BT usually at that point and it will get media and voice both connected. But if you go and do your normal thing just fire up the music player and it should play through just fine...doublecheck the volumes of course (both phone and car stereo).

 

[GoodEnough]

Thanks, I'll give it a try. This device is just awesome.

 

[GoodEnough]

Outside of the car, I noticed my Inc2 always answers on speakerphone now. Is this b/c of the bluetooth setting? How do I fix this?

 

[GoodEnough]

My friend also has this device, but the phone can not pair with this bluetooth device anymore. Anyone know if this is a typical problem with Droid phones?

 

[GoodEnough]

My Motorola T505 is going strong. This thing is still AWESOME
But, the Motorola T505 is defunct.
Anyone have a newer model to suggest to friends?

 

[vi edit]

I still don't get how people manage with BT. You have to leave BT on all day or have to switch it on and off, and it's annoying to remember everytime you step into a car. But I guess that's still just as annoying as plugging in my phone to my speakers everytime I step in my car.... except if I forget BT then there's massive battery drain....

Get a phone that doesn't suck?

I've got an iPhone4 and can have a day like this:

Get up in morning and phone is synched via BT to Panasonic phone system in house. Get in my car and pull out of driveway. Phone then synchs automatically to my car. Go to work for 8 hours. Walk back out and phones synchs back up to my car and starts playing whatever song was playing on the way in. Then when I get home and into the garage and turn off the car my phone is synched back up with the Panasonic phone system by the time I walk in the door. Then at night I'll take my wife's car somewhere and her car will pick up my phone and start playing whatever song was playing previously in my car before I turned it off. Then when I get home it will synch back up with the Panasonic phone system.

Rinse and repeat. BT is awesome.

 

[notposting]

I don't even bother turning BT or wifi or GPS off on my Windows phone. And it syncs to my T505 far better than my Droid ever did (would have to wake it up, cajole it, then disconnect because both phone and media volume weren't enabled, etc etc). I get in the car, if I hit the T505 it connects nearly instantly.

And the voice commands and recognition are top notch too.

Not sure about a good replacement, gonna check that out...