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Blog Entry 17 of 20 Tarzana Housewife Trials and Triumphs

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Hands-free driving you mad?

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Contributed by: Kathleen Melton on 8/20/2008

Futzing and fooling with my Bluetooth headset in my car is driving me mad.

Digging in my purse for it. Driving with my knees while I hook it on my ear (why does it take two hands to position it correctly? And didn't they realize we already have sunglasses that utilizing that small space behind our ears?)

Once it is successfully on my ear, I have to then look in the rear view mirror to make sure it hasn't shut itself off, handle my phone to verify that it is "visible", that my "trusted devices" are on, the volume's up, and I'm not on mute.

All this effort and the device cuts itself off anyway, leaving me talking out loud to no one, with my phone sadly lying on the seat next me, the person on the other end shouting loudly, hoping that I realize that my Bluetooth isn't working and they can't hear me.

Oh yeah, this has definitely made me less distracted while driving.

Seriously, was there not any field research done before the law passed?

The irony of this situation is that I enjoy and embrace technology. The latest and greatest innovations fascinate me and technology has in many ways improved my life.

But not this one, not for me. It has done quite the opposite, for I am now a much more distracted driver.

I've now moved into the denial stage. I completely forget about the Bluetooth and inadvertently answer my phone with my hands (gasp!) in the car. Personal calls and work calls are then indiscriminately interrupted by my two boys screaming from the backseat, "Hands free! Hands free!"

This, of course, startles me (another wonderful distraction while driving) forcing me to quickly futz around again digging through my purse and/or center consol looking for that dammed earpiece, causing even more commotion in the back, "Hands on the wheel. Hands free!"

Suddenly, and once and for all, I become my mother and swing the car to the curb, turn around, finger wagging and tell my kids not to holler at me in the car.

"But it's a good law, Mom," my boys state with an odd confidence of knowledge. "Really? It's not working that great for me. I have never been more distracted while driving!"

Surely they can see that. There was never any yelling (about my cell phone, anyway), no fiddling around in my purse, digging through the console, running through the main menu on my phone to verify visibility, 'on' functions, and trusted this or that. No fighting for earpiece space with my sunglasses.

"It was on 'Myth Busters'," they continued. "They proved that it is more dangerous to talk on your cell phone than it is to drive legally drunk."

Fascinating. But did the person on the phone and the drunk person have to deal with the Bluetooth earpiece? I think not.

They start to protest but I shut them down, for my Bluetooth actually starting working and a call was coming in. I still have to let go of the wheel to touch the earpiece to answer it. "Handsfreeeeeee..." once again resounds from the peanut gallery in the back. Yeah, yeah, yuk it up.

Finally at our destination, we disembark from our gas-guzzling machine and everywhere you turn people are talking to themselves. I feel like I have just landed in a town full of loony bin escapees.

Of course, they are talking out loud because they are still wearing their Bluetooth earpieces. Who really thinks these things look cool? Really? Mine is Pepto-Bismol pink, what was I thinking?

Seriously, can't someone invent the invisible earpiece that requires only an inconspicuous touch to turn it on and off - like Jack Bauer on "24"? Now he makes it look cool. But I digress.

Never wanting to be alone in this world, I put my troubles out for comment. With great satisfaction I found that I am not alone, that others are struggling with this new law, with this technology making life a bit more complicated.

One gentleman friend told me he just doesn't answer his phone in his car anymore. I stared at him in disbelief. If I were to not talk on the phone in my car, well, I pretty much would never talk on the phone.

In fact, most of my phone conversations take place in my car. That I even still have a home hard-wired line is only so that my kids or I can dial 911 in the event of an emergency (especially if my cell phone is dead).

Ultimately, I bought a plug-in earpiece, the "old-fashioned" kind with a chord. I still struggle to hook it to my ear, but I try to remember to do so before I start the car.

And I am grateful that I no longer drive a stick, for fear that the chord would get in my way even more than it already does in my automatic. Yes, I know I could buy a speaker, but there are many conversations that I just don't want broadcast in the car, for many reasons.

So, how are you dealing with this new law? I would love to hear about any clever or inventive ways you are making it work for you. Seriously. Other than driving or walking in silence.

That's another article altogether.

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Submitted By: Yolanda Clair

posted on 9/8/2008 @ 9:07:23 PM

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Since no one has bothered to explain how to use your hands-free device, let me do so. Put the device in your ear before you start your car and begin to drive. Now, leave it there until you arrive at your destination. The device isn't meant to be put-in and taken-out of your ear when you receive or end a call. No wonder your kids keep yelling at you hands-free, hands on the wheel. They are right. You are wrong. If you don't like wearing a hands-free device that goes inside your ear because it gets in the way of your sunglasses, then buy one that can be placed on your sunvisor or connects directly to your car radio. And please don't forget to use your blinker when you plan on changing lanes. I don't need you crashing into my car, and that pedestrian in the roadway doesn't need you hitting and killing them either. If you can't do that, maybe you shouldn't be driving. Someone needs to notify the DMV and have them yank your license. Just like voting, driving is a privilege, not a right!

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Submitted By: David Stratemeyer

posted on 9/8/2008 @ 10:37:01 AM

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I adopted the same solution (putting on the bluetooth before I start the car). One other tip, nearly all mobile phones have an option to auto-answer (2nd ring typically) when a hands-free device is in use. I still believe that the mental distraction of using phones while driving is at least as dangerous as the physical part. I seldom make calls while driving. Plus, with gas prices so high, who can afford to be in their car more than an hour per day anyway? I'm quite happy to defer most phone usage for when I'm not driving :-)

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Submitted By: alisa davies

posted on 8/20/2008 @ 3:13:35 PM

Rated Blog Entry

LOL. You have it good though. My car is pre-wired so the calls are routed through the speakers. As I too make 80% of my calls in the car, now I can't unless I am alone in the car, which is of course never. I fear I will completely loose touch with all my friends and family,ending up alone, with too many cats. That is unless I kill myself fiddling to be "Hands Free."

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Kathleen Melton

Tarzana , CA

Kathleen Melton has posted 20 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 8/31/2006. Kathleen Melton 's average blog rating is 4.96.

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