Hands Free Phone Calls....what do you use?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by o1marc

I think you will find "headphones" are illegal to wear while driving just about everywhere. Bluetooth headsets and earpods are okay in some places. In Calif. nothing can be on both ears.

ohio is like that.. although I think earbuds may hgave an exception in ohio since they dont block out sound,



I only ever buy headsets that cover 1 ear.. and I prefer on ear to over-ear but seems like a lot of the aviation grade stuff im finding is all binaural over ear.. I guess in a plane its legal since you wont have a police or fire plane needing to pass you

[RIlse]

I use cordless earbuds and only wear one. That way I can hear what I'm trying to listen to while also being aware of traffic, other passengers and my vehicle. I switch ears occasionally because they DO get irritating after a while. There's ways to make it work...

[Mountain Gnome]

I'm too cheap to buy a Blue Parrot headset. When I was looking, I saw too many reviews saying they just quit working for the price. Without a replaceable rechargable battery, they will die eventually.


I bought these off of eBay (but not from this seller).



https://www.ebay.com/itm/193560969475


I see them at truckstops branded as "Blue Tiger" or something for bigger $$$, but I buy them unbranded for $20 or less. I've bought several over the years. After a year or two, they stop working, but I think it is because I kept them in my leg-cargo-pocket and bumped the on-off button too hard. I don't do that anymore, and this last set has lasted 5 years or so.


I use it every time I make a call to keep the microwaves away from my head. If I talk for an hour on my cell with it next to my ear, my ear is hot and my eardrum a bit sore. With the headset, I can talk for hours all day long in comfort.


I like this set because
a) it has a big padded earphone
b) the overhead band is tight but not too tight (another brand I bought would fall off) and is padded and expands as needed
c) the mic boom is flexible and rotates up-down, so I can eat/drink/cough while on the phone by simply moving the mic away easy.
d) the price is right


it does: answer/hang-up, and earphone volume up-down

[cadillackid]

theres a lot of generics out there that work decent.. my main issue with some of them has been the Bluetooth connectivity.. half the time im grabbing my headset when the phone is ringing .. my generic headset half the time wouldnt re-connect on its own so my caller had hung up by the time the headset synced.. so I got the name brand and it connects every time all the time no worries..

[BarnYardCamp]

Studies have shown that even with "hands free" devices, drivers are still cognitively distracted. When engaged in a cell phone conversation, drivers tend to stop scanning their environment. Simply put, we are not as good at multi-tasking as we think we are. People will argue that hands free is no different than talking to a passenger. One difference is that your passenger has eyes too and would likely alert you if they saw danger ahead.
Take a few minutes to watch "The Jacey Good Story"
https://youtu.be/P54ln1139JM

In that video, they touch on a study where the eyes of a hands free user were monitored via camera.

I don't understand how so many people let themselves get addicted to their phones...can't put the dumb things down hardly at all.

In some states, if you are involved in a serious crash (fatality or likely fatality) you must submit to test to determine your sobriety. Eventually, laws will be passed mandating that your cell phone use at the time of your crash be revealed. As it is now, the investigating agency would need to have probable cause to obtain a search warrant for your phone records. Rest assured, DWI and distracted driving will result in a finding of Gross Negligence and the consequences will be life altering. (jail and bankruptcy)

[ol trunt]

On the road in the bus wifey takes all the phone calls--at least that way she isn't distracting me with her pleasant chatter.

When driving alone I always let the phone go to the answer box. Jack

[s2mikon]

As soon as I get behind the wheel of the bus I hand the phone to my wife and she plays answering service when it rings. These things need all of your attention while driving. That speed bump you just missed was a minivan with people in it. Please don't take the chance. It's just not worth it. Now back to regular programming.

[HamSkoolie]

Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp

Studies have shown that even with "hands free" devices, drivers are still cognitively distracted.

YUP and those are the SAME studies that were used to justify hands free laws. It's not new data at all. So all the "hands free" laws out there aren't really about safety at all. They're about revenue generation in the form of traffic citations and political donations to politicians pockets by hands free device manufacturers.
It was never about safety!

[cadillackid]

nads free makes a huge difference.. now that said, I can easily see where a passionate phone call whether it be an argument, a laugh session with friends or such could be a cognitive distraction..


but i can say for sure trying to hokd a phone in my hand and drive a busdefinitely causes distraction. so I generally always use my headset. most of the calls I actually answer end up being something where I need to get logged into a computer so i end up pulling over shortly after answering anyway.

[TaliaDPerkins]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

nads free makes a huge difference

Umm... YES! That would be a huge change.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by TomDPerkins

Umm... YES! That would be a huge change.

What I get for trying to voice to text on my headset in a coffee shop

[TaliaDPerkins]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

What I get for trying to voice to text on my headset in a coffee shop

Laughter is the best medicine. Voice to Text is nobody's friend. Thank you

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

nads free makes a huge difference.. now that said, I can easily see where a passionate phone call whether it be an argument, a laugh session with friends or such could be a cognitive distraction..

but i can say for sure trying to hokd a phone in my hand and drive a busdefinitely causes distraction. so I generally always use my headset. most of the calls I actually answer end up being something where I need to get logged into a computer so i end up pulling over shortly after answering anyway.

I'm not very cell-phone friendly. Growing up w/o them I can see the difference they've made on the highways, and I'd almost wish everyone was cruising around with a bud light in their hand rather than a phone (almost).

That said, with hands-free operation, I don't agree that it's necessarily a dangerous distraction. It depends on the person. Some people tune out their environment once the inputs start coming in fast, so they can focus on finishing their story of what they ate for breakfast. Others (the minority it would appear) tune out the conversation, if not dropping it all-together.

There are numerous human endeavors where communicating while engaging in critical actions under stress is a job/task requirement. It can be done, though it's easy to come to a different conclusion viewing the capabilities of the average driver.

[HamSkoolie]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

There are numerous human endeavors where communicating while engaging in critical actions under stress is a job/task requirement. It can be done, though it's easy to come to a different conclusion viewing the capabilities of the average driver.

YEP
In aviation we have a saying......
"Remember, the airplane flies due to the principle discovered by Bernouli, not the one discovered by Marconi !"


That saying goes hand in hand with the immediate action for any inflight emergency.......
AVIATE - Fly the plane
FLY THE PLANE
FLY THE GOD DAMN PLANE
NAVIGATE - Don't hit anything
Communicate - Talk to the ground if you have time after one and two

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

I'm not very cell-phone friendly. Growing up w/o them I can see the difference they've made on the highways, and I'd almost wish everyone was cruising around with a bud light in their hand rather than a phone (almost).

That said, with hands-free operation, I don't agree that it's necessarily a dangerous distraction. It depends on the person. Some people tune out their environment once the inputs start coming in fast, so they can focus on finishing their story of what they ate for breakfast. Others (the minority it would appear) tune out the conversation, if not dropping it all-together.

There are numerous human endeavors where communicating while engaging in critical actions under stress is a job/task requirement. It can be done, though it's easy to come to a different conclusion viewing the capabilities of the average driver.

is the car radio or the A/C control any less distraction? people get to singing and dancing in their cars. some people are always messing with various car controls like A/C, seats, cruise, etc...



so we should just go back to no A/C, no radio, one position seat.. talk about some totally fatigued drivers... that are likely pretty terrible at that point.. I loved my 'Super-cruise' where i just let the car drive.. it was fun to watch it

[somewhereinusa]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

so we should just go back to no A/C, no radio, one position seat.. talk about some totally fatigued drivers... that are likely pretty terrible at that point.. I loved my 'Super-cruise' where i just let the car drive.. it was fun to watch it

I still think the old controls were better. I could adjust the old, slide lever heater without looking.(don't think I had a car with AC until I was in my 20s) I could also change the radio station on the ones that had mechanical push buttons and knobs that you turn to adjust volume and tuning without looking at it. Electric windows are nice but, I miss the vent wings. I'm not sure why you need remote controls for those things, I can reach them.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

I still think the old controls were better. I could adjust the old, slide lever heater without looking.(don't think I had a car with AC until I was in my 20s) I could also change the radio station on the ones that had mechanical push buttons and knobs that you turn to adjust volume and tuning without looking at it. Electric windows are nice but, I miss the vent wings. I'm not sure why you need remote controls for those things, I can reach them.

those were suffer days.. sweating on the road.. fatigued from heat in traffic.. AM radio with crappy music and commercials.. having to lean over and almost wreck the car to roll the window down on the other side...


ill gladly take my 'Hey siri play spotify list road-trip'.. and 'hey siri Navigate to Coffee hub'


the new car i just got drives itself I can let go of the wheel and it will even drive in stop N go traffic..



duzl zone temp so no hearing my passenger say :its too hot" in winter or "its too cold" in summer.. they have their own..



those are controls I call easy.. and 50 MPG instead of the 16 an old non A/C, non PS, AM radio impala woulda got..

[Rwnielsen]

Thankfully there are times when I'm simply not available to take a call. Riding motorcycles is one and the bus will be another. It's noisy and big and I need to pay attention. The world will surely carry on without my input.

[Oldyeller]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

Thankfully there are times when I'm simply not available to take a call. Riding motorcycles is one and the bus will be another. It's noisy and big and I need to pay attention. The world will surely carry on without my input.

Yea, I have no interest in cell phones or radio when I'm riding one of my bikes. I'm so into the motorcycling experience, sights, sounds, sensations, I don't want to ruin it with something that I can experience anytime when I'm NOT riding.

I'm firmly on the side that distracted driving is a hazard and cell phone conversations represent distracted driving. The worst thing about it is 99.9% of conversations that are conducted while driving (whether on a phone of not) are probably so unimportant as to not warrant the risk to life and limb.

I'll toss in here that I have a disability caused by being rear ended by what was certainly a distracted driver. I don't know what he was paying attention to instead of driving, it doesn't matter, he walked away unscathed and I've been paying for it for 22 years and counting.

[HamSkoolie]

I have my helmet blue tooth connected to my phone and to my GF's helmet on her bike, which is blue toothed to my helmet and her phone.
And my phone is TURNED ON SILENT at all times. It will vibrate but I don't care. It's for me to call someone, not for people to call me.
So why do I have the comms in my helmet?

Two reasons
1) So we can communicate threats to each other when we ride
2) You never know when you're going down and I want to be able to make a voice call for emergency services if I need to.


Having crashed a bike into a Rotweiller, then through a ditch, into a telephone pole where my pax died on impact, and then another 90 feet into an orchard, somehow missing all the trees, then waking up on the ground....... I want the ability to make a voice call to 911. That was a hell of a life changing event.


The rest of the time...24/7..... my phone is on silent and vibrate. I don't talk while driving and the only ones I'm guaranteed to pick up are my GF, Mom, Sister, and Brother. The rest can send a text