Conference calls

fretmeister

Axe_meister said:

Sporky said:

Axe_meister said:

If he did the same study with, passengers in the car or Radio 4 on. No doubt he would have come to the same conclusion.

So ban passengers and radios.

You seem very invested in defending behaviour you know isn't safe. Sounds a bit cognitive-dissonance-y.

As somebody who has kids/dogs/wife in the car on a regular basis and somebody who has to talk to customers on the phone (hands free) between face to face meetings.

My own observation is that if anything being on a conference call listening in and piping up when needed, is less distracting than having a car full of family/dogs (yes the dogs have their own seat belts).

BTW I take driving seriously, I have an advanced driving license, I used to do a lot of track days so yes I am confident in my driving ability. I have not had an accident in 25 years (and that one was weather related and I was an inexperienced driver).

And no points on my license either.

So what?

No one ever thinks it will happen to them.

Your own skills will be of no help at all if you are distracted and don't notice someone else (no doubt less skilled than you, obviously).

In 2014 (last complete figures) there were 194,477 road accidents that involved casualties of all levels of severity. (records for vehicle only damage are kept separate)

I have no doubt that some of those people are better drivers than you and some are worse. Some will have zero points and some will have been banned for already having too many.

The point is - not one of them thought it would / could happen to them on that journey. Even to the ones who are better drivers than you. I bet if I went digging I'd find that some of the drivers at fault were professional drivers, ambulance guys, police, even racing drivers.

Conference calls are usually booked in advance. You could easily book them for a time when you are not in the car and in doing so stop being an unnecessarily increased risk to other road users.

I really hope you never have to attend an Inquest as a third party witness, let alone as someone involved in an avoidable death.

Of course if you are involved and you have to attend... then you were the lucky one.