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Friday, May 11, 2012
Temptation is all in the mind
Don’t use your mobile phone while driving, don’t even think about it. No, CoverGirl hasn’t suddenly come over all school-mistressy, we’re just hazarding a guess at what the tagline for the next road safety campaign might be.
This comes after the release of a study detailing the effects of mobile phones on car crashes. Before you start telling us that you’ve heard it all before, that you know that speaking on a mobile causes car accidents and a potential increase in your woman driver car insurance premium, we urge you to bear with us.
The study in question looked not at the effects of phoning and driving but on the effect of anticipating a call or a text.
It seems that this mere mental act of anticipation can actually distract drivers to the point of becoming a hazard on the road.
The researchers presented their findings at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting in Boston.
"This study suggests that thinking about future cell phone calls and messages may be an additional source of distraction that could contribute to crashes,” commented one researcher.
This, of course, leads us into very tricky territory. It is very difficult to not think about something and no amount of injunction is likely to be able to stop a person being preoccupied with a potential phone call or text. In fact, it is possible that such injunctions may only lead a person to become even more preoccupied. After all, we all know what happens if children are told to not do something.
Naturally, actually turning off a phone may help, but it is unlikely to eradicate all thoughts of the phone. Even when it is off, it is still possible to think about turning it on again…
This comes after the release of a study detailing the effects of mobile phones on car crashes. Before you start telling us that you’ve heard it all before, that you know that speaking on a mobile causes car accidents and a potential increase in your woman driver car insurance premium, we urge you to bear with us.
The study in question looked not at the effects of phoning and driving but on the effect of anticipating a call or a text.
It seems that this mere mental act of anticipation can actually distract drivers to the point of becoming a hazard on the road.
The researchers presented their findings at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting in Boston.
"This study suggests that thinking about future cell phone calls and messages may be an additional source of distraction that could contribute to crashes,” commented one researcher.
This, of course, leads us into very tricky territory. It is very difficult to not think about something and no amount of injunction is likely to be able to stop a person being preoccupied with a potential phone call or text. In fact, it is possible that such injunctions may only lead a person to become even more preoccupied. After all, we all know what happens if children are told to not do something.
Naturally, actually turning off a phone may help, but it is unlikely to eradicate all thoughts of the phone. Even when it is off, it is still possible to think about turning it on again…
Photo © Seetheholyland.net via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car accident, mobile phone, premium, woman driver car insurance
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Swedes can text and drive
The British government and police have placed such a great emphasis on the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving that criminalisation of the act has long seemed the only option. In Sweden they like to do things rather differently.
Rather than taking heed of the findings that mobile phones act as a distraction for motorists, the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute has conducted its own research into the subject. Surprisingly it found that enforcement of mobile phone laws in other European countries has had minimal impact.
The Swedes would undoubtedly point to recently released media reports telling of the widespread use of hand-held devices and access to social networks by young drivers in the UK. They may also draw upon revelations that the number of British motorists using their phones has risen considerably since the first year of legal enforcement.
A Swedish government representative said, “For it to be effective you would need a total ban, as it is the calls themselves and their content that distracts the driver. Hands-free doesn’t help and I can’t see a total ban being passed.”
Here at CoverGirl we have been wondering what you, the blog reader and potential car insurance customer think about this issue. Would it be better if the British government had turned a blind eye to the use of mobile phones, or was the right decision made when penalties were introduced?
Rather than taking heed of the findings that mobile phones act as a distraction for motorists, the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute has conducted its own research into the subject. Surprisingly it found that enforcement of mobile phone laws in other European countries has had minimal impact.
The Swedes would undoubtedly point to recently released media reports telling of the widespread use of hand-held devices and access to social networks by young drivers in the UK. They may also draw upon revelations that the number of British motorists using their phones has risen considerably since the first year of legal enforcement.
A Swedish government representative said, “For it to be effective you would need a total ban, as it is the calls themselves and their content that distracts the driver. Hands-free doesn’t help and I can’t see a total ban being passed.”
Here at CoverGirl we have been wondering what you, the blog reader and potential car insurance customer think about this issue. Would it be better if the British government had turned a blind eye to the use of mobile phones, or was the right decision made when penalties were introduced?
Photo © OregonDOT via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: distraction, driving, law, mobile phone, motorist, Sweden, Swedish National Road and Transport Institute, UK, young drivers
Monday, March 12, 2012
A useful SpareOne
If we told you that a new mobile phone would be appearing on the UK market this month and that all it did was make and receive calls – you might not be very impressed.
But wait! Don’t be so quick to judge!
This phone, called SpareOne, runs on a single AA battery and stays charged for about 15 years.
It has been designed by XPAL Power to be a back-up mobile phone kept in the glove compartment of a car in case of emergencies.
Imagine being stranded in the middle of nowhere and having no battery left on your mobile. No problem, if you have the SpareOne!
“It’s essentially designed to make and receive the most important calls, no matter what,” stated an XPAL Power spokesperson.
It sounds to us like this is yet another piece of very useful emergency kit to have in your car. A quick ‘will you be buying one?’ around the office makes a lot of heads nod.
We wouldn’t be surprised if breakdown companies start listing these handy mobiles as something that every motorists should have somewhere in their vehicle, just in case.
If you’re interested, the phone will be on sale in Britain on the 15th of March and will cost £60.
But wait! Don’t be so quick to judge! This phone, called SpareOne, runs on a single AA battery and stays charged for about 15 years.
It has been designed by XPAL Power to be a back-up mobile phone kept in the glove compartment of a car in case of emergencies.
Imagine being stranded in the middle of nowhere and having no battery left on your mobile. No problem, if you have the SpareOne!
“It’s essentially designed to make and receive the most important calls, no matter what,” stated an XPAL Power spokesperson.
It sounds to us like this is yet another piece of very useful emergency kit to have in your car. A quick ‘will you be buying one?’ around the office makes a lot of heads nod.
We wouldn’t be surprised if breakdown companies start listing these handy mobiles as something that every motorists should have somewhere in their vehicle, just in case.
If you’re interested, the phone will be on sale in Britain on the 15th of March and will cost £60.
Photo © akbarici via photobucket
Labels: AA battery, breakdown, calls, car, charged, emergencies, emergency kit, glove compartment, mobile phone, SpareOne, UK, vehicle, XPAL Power
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Don't drop it!
Have you ever bought a new mobile phone? Of course you have - you've probably had loads.
I can't remember buying the first one, but I quickly discovered that unless my phone was of a clam shell design I would be making all sorts of transgressional phone calls from my back pocket, so avoided the traditional shape from a fairly early stage. My second phone purchase was natty silver clam and when you opened it, it emitted a "swoosh" sound just like the communicators used in retro star trek shows - a la Captain Kirk and Sulu.
In sixteen years of mobile phone use I have had five handsets in total. I have only ever bought three of my own free will as the first two were cast offs, so I have effectively had one phone every 3.2 years.
I can't remember buying the first one, but I quickly discovered that unless my phone was of a clam shell design I would be making all sorts of transgressional phone calls from my back pocket, so avoided the traditional shape from a fairly early stage. My second phone purchase was natty silver clam and when you opened it, it emitted a "swoosh" sound just like the communicators used in retro star trek shows - a la Captain Kirk and Sulu.When that one finally died, I opted for a VGA camera phone in metallic pink and although the pictures were rubbish - I've had no real complaints about the rest of the phone's features.
Then, yesterday, I had a little accident. Suffice it to say that mobile phones and water don't mix and my little mishap means I am very likely to need a new one.
As it is Christmas, I decided to look for a new model on the internet to avoid the mobile phone shop madness that ensues during the festive build up. I thought it might make things a bit easier, but lo and behold after only five minutes of searching, my brain was fried and I now have no idea whether I want 3G with a qwerty keypad or a touch screen with stylus. Do I need expandable memory and is it important for me to be able to Tweet at all times - well I just don't know!
I found a phone I liked the look of and mistakenly then looked at the reviews - the various disgruntled customers swiftly informed me that it didn't come with a USB cable and what was the point of expandable storage if you couldn't store MP3s anyway. And one reviewer even proffered that it was cheap and plasticky - well of all things to be that's pretty despicable, I'd say.
The upshot of my surfing is that I don't know what to do. Shall I wait to see if my doused phone dries out and will go on to give me another 18 months of use, or should I just cut my 'pay as you go' losses and opt for a monthly tariff with a free top spec phone? If only you could help me out of this dilemma, dear reader I would be so grateful. Now, if my phone were working you could text me, couldn't you!
Image © barnoid via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 3G, Captain Kirk, mobile phone