# cellphones in cars illegal - so where are the mike/speakers combinations that don't touch the head? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930 "2010-01-29T19:21:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/21 "2010-01-30T03:17:48Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > I think there are lots of laws in various places to prevent people from driving while talking using cellphones or possibly even hands-free headphones with mike. Well, fine, so how about a system that would basically consist of speakers (like radio/tape recorder and so forth) and a directional microphone with some sound filtering? The mike could be glued to the car’s roof, I guess, to be in physical proximity of the driver’s face. > > Anyway, is this sort of stuff covered by the existing laws? Are there similar systems on the market? Are there inherent technical reasons why this will not fly even in the absence of government regulation? just curious. do the laws banning cell phone use contain an exemption for police and emergency personnel? Or do they just ignore radios (and how would the define a radio to not include the radio in the cell phone)? ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/22 "2010-01-30T03:30:36Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > What about an old fashioned CB radio? Would those be covered under the cell phone laws? That’s a good question! It’s different, but it’s the same… I would hope law writers would be specific enough to either include or exclude such things, but does anyone have the verbiage of the laws (I am in Kansas and as far as I know I am within the law using my cell-phone hands free if I choose to, but I don’t.) ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/23 "2010-01-30T03:35:30Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > just curious. do the laws banning cell phone use contain an exemption for police and emergency personnel? Or do they just ignore radios (and how would the define a radio to not include the radio in the cell phone)? I don’t know about the police, but I am married to an emergency personnel, and in Kansas, and for the company he works for- it might be a policy, not a law- they are not allowed to talk on their cell phone or the radio while driving (and if a citizen sees the driver of the ambulance using a cell phone, they are suppose to report it). Emergency crews usually have a driver and at least one other person (like an EMT and a Paramedic, or two EMTs etc.) so it is easy for the non-driver to do the talking. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/24 "2010-01-30T04:12:03Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > The phone goes off, you use one hand to turn off the stereo and the other one pushes the speaker button on the phone. As you’re steering with your knees, you look down, squinting at the phone’s tiny screen to see who’s calling. I can’t see a downside at all. 😃 That’s why I am so happy with the built-in setup my new VW has. The microphone is up by the sunroof controls; the sound comes through the stereo. When a call comes in, the stereo automatically goes to mute. I can then answer the call by pressing a button on the steering wheel, without ever looking down. When the call is done, the stereo comes back on. Only thing it doesn’t do is show who is calling, but I’m not getting so many calls that this is a problem. Regardless of the distraction of talking on the phone per se, this does remove several other distractions from the equation. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/25 "2010-01-30T04:33:22Z")
> [@MitzeKatze](#): > > I don’t know about the police, but I am married to an emergency personnel, and in Kansas, and for the company he works for- it might be a policy, not a law- they are not allowed to talk on their cell phone or the radio while driving (and if a citizen sees the driver of the ambulance using a cell phone, they are suppose to report it). Emergency crews usually have a driver and at least one other person (like an EMT and a Paramedic, or two EMTs etc.) so it is easy for the non-driver to do the talking. My husband’s father is a city bus driver, and while he is required to answer calls from dispatch while driving, he is strictly prohibited from talking on a cell phone while driving. And yes, he is fully aware of the hypocrisy - they haven’t worked out a better situation for bus drivers yet. Someone calling their husband to find out what he wants for supper is not a bus driver or an emergency worker, though. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/26 "2010-01-30T06:36:21Z")
We also ned to ban pilots from talking to the ATC controllers while in the cockpit. let a steward in the back do it so the pilots can concentrate on flying… I don’t know how I survived all these years doing my own radio work and all those miles with the ex bitching and yelling from the passenger seats. I should have had her arrested for interfering with my driving… There should be a law… ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/27 "2010-01-30T07:15:23Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My husband’s father is a city bus driver, and while he is required to answer calls from dispatch while driving, he is strictly prohibited from talking on a cell phone while driving. And yes, he is fully aware of the hypocrisy - they haven’t worked out a better situation for bus drivers yet. Someone calling their husband to find out what he wants for supper is not a bus driver or an emergency worker, though. I’m kind of surprised that they are required to answer calls from dispatch while driving. It seems more dangerous for a bus driver to me for some reason (maybe just because he is bigger and more people are involved). I hope they don’t call too often at least, I’d like my bus driver to focus on the road. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/28 "2010-01-30T09:05:24Z")
> [@Apex\_Rogers](#): > > When someone is a passenger in the car they react to the driving situation along with the driver, so not only do you have another set of eyes to help avoid a bad situation, you have someone who will tend to tailor the conversation around the driving situation, knowing to pause in the story if all of a sudden the driver is forced into a stressful situation. The person on the other end of the phone can’t see that you just had to merge onto the freeway in heavy high speed traffic and that you need to merge left across 3 lanes in the next mile or whatever, they’ll just keep on talking obliviously. I think a passenger would be cognizant of this and would talk less. I agree, but I have found that this does not work so well when it is kids in the car talking to you. Also, perhaps, some adult non-drivers. I sometimes have to tell them quite sharply to shut up when I am merging onto a freeway, or something like that. But it would clearly be unacceptable (and unenforcable) to try to ban talking with passengers ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/29 "2010-01-30T18:01:35Z")
Here’s a great way to get around the problem of driving while talking on the phone: [Laptop Steering Wheel Desk](http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Office-WM-01-Laptop-Steering/dp/B000IZGIA8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1264874117&sr=1-1) ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/30 "2010-01-30T18:10:36Z")
I had this years ago. Bluetooth connection with the phone, uses the car stereo speakers and a mike affixed to the dash. I thought this was fairly common? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/31 "2010-01-30T19:25:11Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > just curious. do the laws banning cell phone use contain an exemption for police and emergency personnel? Or do they just ignore radios (and how would the define a radio to not include the radio in the cell phone)? EMS radios are exempt from such laws, EMS communications are also little more than tiny bursts of information. The longest continuous stream of talk I ever heard was more like 25 seconds if that and that was from a dispatcher who was not driving. if its taking down call info its the guy not doing the driving. Its nothing like holding a conversation via cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930/32 "2010-01-30T19:42:02Z")
I’d like to think that the dispatchers are also aware that they are just giving pertinent information to drivers in the field, not calling them up for a chat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cellphones-in-cars-illegal-so-where-are-the-mike-speakers-combinations-that-dont-touch-the-head/526930.md?page=1)