Hands free still means distracted mind.

Posted by Jason Ihle | 3 Comments

In a rare break from being director of an English language summer camp, I read this feature about the dangers of cell phone distraction while driving:

Even way back when NY legislated for the use of hands-free devices while driving, I felt it was a fairly useless measure because the real distraction isn’t about having only one hand on the wheel, but about the mind focusing on an abstract conversation with an absent person when it should be focused on the road.

So I agree with the article when it suggests that laws requiring the use of hands-free devices may actually give people the false impression that what they’re doing is safe. This doesn’t mean, however, that I think the government should be in the business of banning the use of cell phones while driving.

That ban would be an infringement on personal freedom and I disagree with it as strongly as I disagree with proposed legislation to ban smoking in vehicles when children are present.

While reading the article I started imagining that if I owned or managed a large business in which many of my employees would otherwise be spending large portions of their days driving and communicating for work-related purposes, I would impose (as part of an employee agreement/mission statement) a rule that my people would not do business on the phone while driving. It would be clear in my company that doing business while driving is not safe and not in the best interest of the company. Any employee involved in an accident while talking on a cell phone would be let go (or some other perhaps less severe penalty). I would make this a top priority in my company and try to get lots of good feature press coverage.

It seems to me that is maybe the best way to start combating the use of cell phones while driving. Instead of legislators trying to convince, in a steep uphill battle, other legislators, wireless device manufacturers, wireless service providers and the public in general that banning cell phone use in cars is the way forward, why not encourage large corporations to adopt policies similar to what I laid out above? Or why not offer some incentive to corporations who agree to adopt such policies for their employees? Wouldn’t this garner a lot of press and start making more people aware of the dangers of talking on phones while driving? Then smaller companies might act on their own to adopt similar policies and individuals, in turn, might change their behavior.

After all, behavior isn’t altered by legislation, but rather through, example, education and public awareness.

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