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"Hands-free mobile phones are 'more dangerous than drink-driving" (w. comment at top)
United Kingdom Created: 28 Feb 2009
"Hands-free mobile phones are 'more dangerous than drink-driving" Still no-one admits a paralell to the KNOWN and ACCEPTED symptoms of Mobile Radiation effect, the EHS! Who is in total DENIAL? And oh yes, yes ofcourse we know, the Treasury NEEDS the money!
Is that excuse enough? I do not think so!

To the article:
The study found drivers using a hands-free phone reacted nearly a third slower than those slightly over the drink-drive limit
Motorists who talk on hands-free phones are more dangerous than drink-drivers, experts have warned.
Drivers using the legal alternative to hand-held mobiles are 30 per cent slower to react than those slightly over the limit, tests found.
And for up to ten minutes after a conversation their reflexes remain dulled, according to the Transport Research Laboratory.
Its study suggests that millions could be unwittingly risking their own and others' lives while obeying the law on phone use in a vehicle.
As part of the research drivers were asked to brake suddenly while travelling at 70mph.
Someone over the limit took 13 feet longer to come to a halt than a normal driver. But a hands-free kit user took an extra 26 feet - twice as far - before stopping.
Tests on concentration and how long it took for the brain to fully focus found the hands-free driver had a 30 per cent slower reaction time than the over-the-limit one.
The researchers said any kind of conversation in a car reduces the driver's concentration levels for up to ten minutes after it has ended.

However, few motorists seem aware of the danger. In a poll asking them about the 'danger rating' of various behind-the-wheel activities, drivers gave using a hands-free kit a score of three out of ten.

Both eating sweets and smoking were rated as more risky. Maggie Game of insurer Direct Line, which commissioned all the research, said: 'This study will understandably come as a shock to many drivers who currently use a hands-free device to comply with the law.

'Given that drink-driving was responsible for 14,480 casualties, including 460 deaths, on the road in 2007, the potential for casualties from mobile-phone use is frightening.

'Hopefully now that drivers are aware of the dangers inherent in the use of hands-free mobile phones whilst driving, the act of having any but the most crucial conversations will take on the status of a social taboo in much the same way that drink-driving has.'

The road safety charity Brake said the findings reinforce its calls for a complete ban on all phone use while driving.

Spokesman Sarah Fatica said: 'Research shows us that it's all about the effect it has on concentration and not about having one less hand on the wheel.

'Most people know that drink-driving is wrong and dangerous and kills but people still continue to believe that talking on a mobile phone is OK and not putting lives as risk.

'We hope this research makes the general public stop and think about the importance of that phone call and think that no call is worth a life. We also hope it puts pressure on the Government to revise the current legislation on talking on mobile phones whilst driving.'

But Edmund King, president of the AA, urged caution. He said it was misleading to compare mobile phone use to drink-driving, as the former only impairs abilities during a call, while the latter affects the entire journey.

He added that while motorists needed to be aware of the dangers of hands-free kits, priority should be given to enforcing the current law banning the use of hand-held phones when driving.

The AA's research shows that at any one time, 100,000 motorists are flouting this law, risking a minimum penalty of three points on their licence and a £60 fine.

By Fiona Macrae
The Daily Mail
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Agnes Ingvarsdóttir. www.mast-victims.org

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