July 1 Car / Cell Compliance
 

Ok, I'm a procrastinator.

But the new law goes into effect in a week or so, and I still don't have a way to talk hands free in my car ... without a headset.


So ... any recommendations? No headset. No break the bank. What's out there???

Yesterday I used SYNC for the first time and connected my cell phone to my car via bluetooth. Now when I drive I can make a call by pushing a button on the steering wheel, say "Call Steve" and it calls Steve.
It works very well. Yay! I love my 2008 Focus :D

You don't want a blue tooth?

You only have to wear it in the car. Or you can stop making/receiving calls in the car. I stopped doing that a few months ago and it's been refreshing not being connected during my drives now. It took a little while to get used to, but we survived before.

the std plug in ear piece was like $40 for my POS LG phone, but Ive never paid more than that for a wired earphone/mic dealy

bluetooth was about $80 or so for the current one. its....ok

or you could just hang it from the cupholder by the charging cord like I do occasionally and set it to speaker phone. nice thing about that is its free

My mom's got a bluetooth mic/speaker setup that clips to her sun visor. She seems to like it.

I've got an bluetooth earpiece that lives in the map pocket of my car. I don't love it but it does the trick.

I got a mic/ ear piece at the 99 cent store. Works fine.

No headset. I won't wear one. Ever. I'm certainly not going to wear one every time I drive on the off chance I might receive a call.

I suppose I could dangle it from somewhere ... but no, I'm looking for a device that's more of a speaker phone. No headset.

Well, for the record, you CAN keep a headset in the car and only put it on when the phone rings. When you turn it on, it powers up and answers the call.

But my mom's setup, attached to the visor, is earpiece-free and works decently well.

Just get one of those earpiece cords with the mic on the cord. If you get a call, pop it in your ear and use it. No muss, no fuss.

Note to self: better get one soon, because I don't see myself using speakerphone much...

YMMV, but I tried the corded earpiece method and hated it. Constantly untangling the cord, having to remember to plug it into the phone every time I get into the car, having to unplug it every time I get out of the car. For myself, the upgrade to a bluetooth earpiece was a good value proposition.

My GPS works as a bluetooth speaker. Now my big challenge is to remember to take the GPS with me when I leave the car. It's the #1 reason for auto break-ins in my neighborhood.

- and I just made two consecutive GPS posts in two different threads.

Just don't use the phone when you are driving. They have proven that even with "hands free" the likelihood of an accident is still high, since your mind is occupied on something other than what you should be doing...and that is driving a car!

Hah! I thought I'd keep to this....but lately I've caught myself TEXTING while driving. Yeech. I so shouldn't do that....

I got the bluetooth thingy same time Greg did but I haven't practiced with it at all. Now the time is upon us and I'm probably going to crash my car trying to use it. :rolleyes: I refuse to put it in my ear every time I drive, so I'll have to grab it when the phone rings. Thankfully, I barely drive these days.

Well, guess what? Texting is legal....go figure.

They didn't close that loophole?

So more people are going to have their eyes off the road while looking for letters. Nice. Oh and ya, I used to text and drive. A lot.

I have rarely texted while driving. I suk at it. But I love how the new law will drive people to this incredibly dangerous practice.

Yep, you can type, but not talk (at least not using your hands).

well thought out, that

:rolleyes:

I would agree with you if I hadn't grown to hate my bluetooth. It would hijack my phone at inopportune times, and eventually got to where it refused to hold a charge.

But I see your argument.

Oh, and I've posted to LoT while driving. Not very often, but I've done it :P

I almost went out and got a cell phone. Then decided that since the only person I ever call while in the car is Lani I could get by just quickly dialing the phone and then putting it in my lap on speaker phone.

If I get a ticket for the 5 seconds of dialing then I'll live with it. Just compensation for the fact that I haven't driven the speed limit in 17 years and have only had 2 tickets.

No, the law allows you to dial. You just can't talk with the phone in your hands. But you are allowed to otherwise manipulate the phone with your hands in any way you desire. Dial. Text. Masturbate. Anything goes. Just no talking.

Yup. No more using a hand to hold the phone to your ear while your eyes are looking out the window.

Instead you can a hand to hold the phone and your eyes to make sure you are manipulating your phone correctly.

Somewhat moot since I can dial Lani on my phone without looking at my phone. I just usually hold it in my hand on the steering wheel while doing so. Could just as easily do it with my hand out of sight.

Over the weekend I heard about a commercial for some bluetooth headset that uses video of Uhura from Star Trek where it turns out the real wireless headset is in the ear you can't see. But if they made one that looked like her earpiece from the show I might almost consider using it.

I love my bluetooth. I spend a LOT of time on the phone for work and it would severly hamper my existance if I didn't have a headset. While I always use it while in the car, I actually use it more when I'm trying to do things other than driving. But, I'm the queen of multi-tasking.

The Jawbone was the best followed by Plantrinocs.

Just placed an order for a jawbone since I lost my last Bluetooth - I like that I can use the same bluetooth device for both my work and personal cell phones

I found a hands free setup for iSm:

So this past weekend, I discovered if I receive a text message while I'm driving,
my car will read the text message to me! Yay! My car FTW ! :)

^ That's an awesome feature. Drats, I'm stuck with 2002 car technology for the foreseeable future. We'll have hovercars by the time I can afford another vehicle. The car's got all of 7000 miles on it, so I intend to keep it for a good long while.


I ordered a Parrot, but it's way back-ordered. Hmmm, wonder why. Ah well, I'll just manage to not cell talk in the car for a while. I'll live.



But I'm tempted to text instead.

yeah, I don't know why they didn't include text messaging in the law too.

A text messaging law would be nigh unenforceable. With calling, it's blatantly obvious if you're holding your phone to your face. With texting, just hold it below window height and what are they going to do?

Washington had a law go into effect in January I think that bans texting while driving. Their hands free law starts today. I, however, live just across the border in Idaho, where we have no laws about it yet (that I know of). My car has bluetooth built in though, so it's hard to forget it ;)

The articles I've read - texting wasn't included because at the time the law was drafted, in I think 2001, it wasn't an issue.

I also saw a quote from someone in law enforcment that texting could be included in just general negligent driving so they don't need a specific law for it.

I've heard this from several sources.

Started using the bluetooth and actually, it's a snap. Today I had to sit on hold for a while and instead of holding a phone to my ear, I went with the bluetooth and did chores while I waited. I've decided to turn it on when I'm driving more than around the block and keep it on the seat for quick access when the phone rings. I really don't like wearing it if I'm not using it. Turning it on and off is a success so far. I don't drive much anyway.

Apparently, cops are pulling people over left and right. According to a news report I saw while getting my hair cut.

I like this law. Too many dinglecheeses on their cell phones not paying attention to what they're doing. Granted, I happen to be posting this from my car, but I'm exempt from my own logic.

:D

Does this law only cover phone usage? I ask because I wonder if I can still legally use my electric shaver while driving.

If a cop notices that your driving is impaired because of it, they can give you a ticket. In fact, if it hinders you in any way, drinking coffee could get you a ticket.

Good. Enforcement is going to be a big deterrent. Fines start at $20 for the first offense and go up from there. It would be nice if there were harsher penalties. Business people who live on their phones may not care about the smaller fines.

I should probably actually read the actual WORDING of the law here, but are you just not allowed to put the phone up to your ear?

I mean, if I call my voice mail, for instance, I STILL need to pick up the handset and dial in the password digits.

EDIT: OK I am a tard, I should have read the last page of posts which answered my question.