Encourage the use of hands-free devices.
Earlier this month, the Mumbai Traffic Police came up with another absurd law which bans you from using a hands-free device while driving.
The rule clearly says:
- No person shall talk on a mobile phone while driving
- The fine for using a mobile while driving is Rs. 100
- If you’re driving alone, switch off your mobile phone
A lot of us who drive to work daily and back home, spend around 3-4 hours on the road each day. And these are peak hours I’m talking about, when you’re most likely to get a call. Of course, unnecessary calls should be avoided while driving. Also, holding the cellphone in one’s hand and steering with the other is also very foolish on one’s part. But come on, why the ban on the hands-free device? What if there’s an emergency call?
In fact, the bluetooth hands-free device was created for THIS specific scenario: driving. And it’s such a convenient gadget making life so much easier, until this ridiculous law took over. If the authorities think that speaking on the phone through this device diverts your mind while driving, then how about talking to the people seated in your car while driving? Is the govt. going to ban that too? I wouldn’t be surprised, really.
Rather than concentrating on these stupid affairs, why not concentrate on other issues like lane cutting, speeding, overtaking and other similar ones? They cause accidents and NOT talking on the phone through a hands-free!
Talking directly into a handset while driving does split the driver’s concentration. The driver is physically incapacitated because he’s holding the phone to his ear, which slows reaction time and could result in accidents. As a result, the use of hand-held devices while driving is banned in most parts of the world. But Bluetooth or other hands-free devices allow a person to take calls without having to physically handle a phone. Talking to someone via hands-free technology is much like talking to somebody sitting next to you in the car, even perhaps like listening to music over the car’s audio system. Putting a ban on hands-free is like banning talking or humming along to the latest tunes while driving.
Anyway, I’ve started connecting my cell phone to the music system of the car while on the road. That way, I do not miss any of the important calls. It’s a little difficult, but then "Stupid laws entice us to make Stupid moves!"
Of course! Blue tooth headset was invented so that people could drive and talk…and so that students can talk and write their exam papers… so that there are weirdo’s walking around with strange looking things in different shapes and sizes stuck to their ear blinking at regular intervals! true-talking over the blue tooth headset while driving is not as bad as talking with the phone in your hand.. its more of choosing between the deep sea and the devil. But for a great swimmer, the deep sea wouldn’t matter and neither would the devil for a PR personal!
Laws come and go by, loop holes are always there to be figured out… as long as you don’t hurt someone else by not following the law :)
Going back to inventions, necessity has again made connect the phone to the speakers of your car to make and rcv phone calls :D
I know I would be scoffed at for saying “what did one do during any emergency when cell phones weren’t invented”… Drive safe!!!
What will these bechara pandus do? They survive on the 100 rupees bribe we give them daily. It’s the fuckin higher authority which needs to be educated, really!
i referred the entire traffic dept as pandu.In a way,us breaking laws is filling their tummies.Maybe they know no matter of the new laws,people will still break it.Hence more and more absurd laws (possibility) lol :P
perhaps something more absurd was the attempt to ban listening to music while driving :P
I won’t be surprised if they do it!
they tried doing it some months back.But people managed to put it on hold :D.
Cops were like listening to music while driving is a big diversion since driving is a responsible job.
on the other hand the people said that music soothed them off their stress.Not something new
Tomorrow they’ll ban you from wearing shades while driving, you know it reduces visibility… India is going back to the stone ages with ridiculous laws like these!
pandus i tell you :P
what is the point of even proposing laws that are unworkable, i.e. not enforceable.
Is it merely a token gesture to show they’re trying to do something when really they are not. Or just an underhand method at extracting money from any poor saps who happen to get caught under this mad law?
they clearly fail to think like the common public.Their opinions about listening to music/using phones while driving is that its a distraction,which is logical.But people are more biased to it and hence it doesn’t work out.
But then everyone is doing his job ;)
Ridiculous way of implementing such a law if they’re serious about it.
Shouldn’t they ban players from cars then? Oh sorry, that means lost revenue for car trade in India, that’s a no go!
It’a about money, not safety.
Very rightly put Darren: “It’s about money, not safety.” :)
dude trust me i have been booked for listenin to trance at high volumes while drivin – thats mumbai for u :-)
Sorry to say but the law maker never think of situation while bringing up the new law. I do agree that talking in cell phone using a headset is similar to talking to co passenger. Where is the problem? If headset is banned then talking to co passenger should also be banned. Actually lawmakers make the way for cops to take bribe. Now if we look on street, I can find lots of commercial cab drivers talking over cell phone handset. But they are never caught because cops know that they can only take the car regn number but not any money. So they will harass us. Law wants us to swuitch of cell phone while driving. But we have to spend hours on road in metropolitan cities and if we switch of cell or not receive call it becomes difficult to communicate. I am not talking about personal calls. Those can be rejected. But what about business call or emergency call. Few days back one of my friend’s father passed away. I got the news and I was driving the car. So I could immediately turn round and reach him on time. But had I kept my cell off then I would have received the news after 2hrs and on reaching my home. Then I will take much more time.
Even at times we need to keep in touch with someone while druiving to locate the personal if we have to meet him on way. My question is, if those are not allowed, then why are pedestrians allowed to walk and cross roads while talking on cell phone. Is it not dangerous? Why drivers are always blamed because they are owner of car and it is easier to collect money from them and it is easier to catch them using car registration number?
Let govt take India to stone age or ask people to use cell phone in home only like a fixed line.
Hi Sourav, thanks for your comment.
I completely agree with every single word you’ve written.
In short, rules in India are not made for safety, but for money.