Talking in the car?

Well, we know the rules of no texting/calling during the drive, well, to the driver of course.

I believe most of us have a hands-free set, or perhaps even the Bluetooth device sync to your Smartphones or Blackberries. So does driving with those against the law? I remember that by not having any contact with your phones while driving is actually ok, so that means NO to holding your phone even if its on speaker.

But come to think of it, why is that we are not allowed to hold the phone while driving? The core of the issue is that we tend to lose focus while on the phone, meaning that people who are on the phone while driving face more danger then those that don't. But why? Is it due to the attention given while on the phone? Or is it simply because one of our hand is being occupied by the phone? If this is the case, I've seen many people using the cheaper alternative, have the need to actually hold the speaker near to their mouths, well, our hand is being occupied by doing so.

In majority cases, most people, me included, do not prepare ourselves to accept calls before we start our journey (regardless of how short it is). Very rare that I see people have everything laid out nicely so that when a call comes in, all they need to do is to just hit a button and start talking. I will only do that if I know I will be receiving a call, as having something at the ear for a period of time is very uncomfortable, well at least for me. The worst case is that I've seen cars swerving on the road because the driver is trying to untangle the wires or just looking for his device. And ultimately, we still have the tendency to look at the phone to determine who it is, instead of just picking it up and just ask who.

But regardless of how we talk while driving, our attention is no longer as sharp as when we are not. That is so obvious without me mentioning it. But the fact still remains that what dictates it unsafe to talk on the phone? The fact that our hand is being occupied? or simply the fact that our mind is drifting around the conversation and unable to concentrate on driving? If the later was the case, then no matter what device we use, it is still illegal to be on the phone while driving.

Part 2 next (If attention is the cause, phone vs passengers)