Washington and California Cell Phone Driving Bans Start July 1

One of my pet peeves (and I'm sure I'm not alone) when driving is having to navigate around other drivers who are paying more attention to balancing and adjusting a phone between shoulder and ear than to the road. But starting tomorrow (July 1) here in Washington state and in California, I'm hoping these juggling acts will diminish as both states have laws that take effect that make it illegal to talk on your cell phone without some kind of handsfree device--whether that be a wired or wireless Bluetooth headset, speakerphone, or a patch through your car's audio system. (If you're a resident of either of these two states, and this is news to you, check out this overview for Californians and this one for Washingtonians. To check on your state's laws, see this handy chart at the Governors Highway Safety Association.)

So it looks like it's time to buy stock in a handsfree company like Plantronics, Jabra or Parrot, as they're most likely going to be seeing an uptick in sales in the next few months. All-things-wireless guru Glenn Fleishman has collected brief list of recommended handsfree devices at the Seattle Times, and I recently tested one of the headsets he features for a review--the Plantronics Discovery 925.

Plantronics is positioning this as both a bit of a fashion accessory (it is one of the best looking headsets I've used) as well as a competitor to the Aliph Jawbone with its noise cancellation technology (which is good, but not as complete as the original Jawbone, which I've also reviewed). But the thing that I liked most about the 925 was how well it fit in my ear. Unlike many Bluetooth headsets, it doesn't offer any kind of loop around the ear to keep it stuck in your ear canal. Rather, the 925 comes with three sizes of gel ear pieces, which hook in comfortably to the ear canal and also provides a tab extension to fill the rest of the ear chamber. I've not had much success in the past with using earbuds or other loopless headphones/headsets, but the feather-light 925 stayed in my ear securely and comfortably for an entire day of testing.

I'd also recommend it for use when driving because it just pops into your ear, avoiding the dance of trying to attach a looped headset over your ear, which can be just as dangerous as handling a phone while driving. Sadly, I had to return my review unit, but because my current, much loved Bluetooth headset just went bust (see my video customer review of the Jabra BT5020, which was done in a fit of frustration), I'm ordering my own 925 so I'll be street legal.

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Comments

[idodialog on July 01, 2008 at 08:15 AM]

We have similar laws in most states in Australia. Furthermore our courts are likely to convict using the non-specific law of Driving Without Due Care.
Effect?
Virtually nil.
People it seems will not be separated from their mobiles. Sure some people use hands free but they use their bluetooth anyway (even when you are attempting to converse with them!).
Nearly unenforceable, easy to deny, who is watching anyway?

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