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By Robin Duke-Woolley, 1 July 2003 15:43

COMMENT Following plans revealed last week to make driving while using a handheld mobile phone illegal the argument has raged over just how dangerous the practice is. But is everyone arguing over the same thing? E-principles analyst Robin Duke-Woolley has been studying the implications of such a move for over a year... The UK government announcement of a ban on the use of mobile phones in cars from 1 December follows a proposal sent out in August last year, with over 1,000 responses received by the end of November. Public sentiment – including that among drivers – is overwhelmingly in favour of such a curbing of behaviour. The ban will cover using a mobile held in the hand but does not extend to hands-free use, which will remain legal. The definition of what constitutes hands-free has been the subject of some debate. In the end, though, it covers both a unit built in to the car as well as a mobile phone held in a cradle. However, a mobile held by the driver or by a passenger on the driver's behalf, or the driver holding it against the ear with the shoulder will all be banned. So too is a hands-free device plugged into a mobile, if the mobile is then not securely held in a cradle. So what does this mean in practice? Whenever the car is on the road with its engine switched on, the driver cannot use a handheld. This means the ban applies even if the car is stopped at traffic lights and certainly in slow-moving traffic. No phoning using your hand-held from a traffic jam to say you're going to be late for a meeting then or be late home. Drivers regularly queuing on the UK's motorways might want to note that. The only way to use a handheld mobile in a car will be to park the car in a legal place and switch the engine off. In fact, the government had wanted to ban hands-free use as well, as in Portugal. The police thought this would be unenforceable though. Instead, drivers using hands-free will still risk prosecution if they fail to keep their car under control. Hands-free risky too Using a mobile phone while driving is certainly risky. A survey conducted in Germany found that drivers using hands-free kits made six times as many mistakes as those not using a phone, while those using a handheld phone made 15 times as many mistakes. Unconnected research work in Canada also suggested that mobile phone use quadruples the chances of an accident during the period of a call and that this enhanced hazard period extends for several minutes afterwards. Perhaps, contrary to popular thinking, evidence is also building that suggests hands-free use may actually be just as risky as handheld use. This is because, in principle, there appear to be two different types of driver distraction – physical and so-called cognitive. When using a handheld phone, drivers must take one hand off the steering wheel to hold and operate the phone. They must also take their eyes off the road, at least momentarily, to pick up and put down the phone and dial numbers. While using the handheld, the driver must also of course continue to steer, change gear, use indicators and so on with only one hand. That's physical distraction. Having to concentrate on a conversation and on driving at the same time is a cognitive distraction. It seems that dividing attention between two different tasks means that they both get done worse. It can be argued that talking to a hands-free unit is similar to talking to a passenger in a car. However, the evidence suggests this is not the case, perhaps because of the visual communication clues that accompany a face-to-face conversation and because a passenger can see the traffic situation and adapt the conversation accordingly. A typical hands-free call, on the other hand, involves a good deal of concentration and there may be no let up given for the traffic situation the driver is in at the time. The key task for researchers now is to try to understand what constitutes a high level of distraction and whether there are ways to overcome this. Technology to the rescue? Possibly or it may just provide more toys to cause distraction. The whole area of car telematics has to get to grips with this. Employer beware Employers will also need to be wary of this ban. Should staff issued with mobile phones use them in their cars? If so, will they be suitably equipped? What if an employee issued with a phone by his employer has an accident while using it for his work? Is the employer liable? Emergency and breakdown services are also affected. So too are tradesmen relying on their mobiles for new custom. All will need hands-free units but will they work effectively in noisy vans and trucks? And has anyone considered whether one-person bus tour commentaries enjoyed by tourists will be affected if the proposed law is applied strictly? Nothing to do with cellular but it's a consequence. Inevitably, there will be a sudden demand for hands-free kits and headsets. Just don't wait till the last day in November to get your order in. Robin Duke-Woolley is a director at consultancy at e-principles, focusing on network-based solutions covering managed services and products in both fixed and mobile environments. Email your reactions to this column to editorial@silicon.com