A loophole in a Yukon law is driving brokers to distraction, not just that a driver was given a pass for talking on his cell phone, but on the tacit expectation that executives should conduct business on the phone while driving.
The article, ‘
Legal loophole on hands-free law?’ drew immediate reader reaction – and raised further questions on cellphones and driving.
One reader, Lori, asked a pertinent question as to what constitutes a distraction.
“When will they smarten up and realize that it's the actual conversation, not the ‘holding of a device’ that causes the distraction,” asked Lori. “If holding the phone was the problem, then I guess holding another device, i.e. the steering wheel, is just as bad.”
Another reader, JoAnne, took the argument further, wondering why even insurance companies expect their employees to conduct business on the phone while driving.
“I totally agree with Lori - when I used to talk on my cellphone in the car, I would sometimes be surprised to find that when I hung up I was several kilometres down the highway with no memory of this, especially if talking business with a client,” she wrote. “It took the statistics on distracted driving to smarten me up.
“I do have Bluetooth in my new car now but make an effort to limit cell calls while driving and pull over most of the time instead. Sadly, many employers, including insurance execs, now actually expect their business development people to do business on the phone while driving between appointments. Productivity at the expense of safety does not seem right.”
What do you think? Are there already too many distractions in today’s cars without adding a conversation to the equation?
You tell us by leaving a comment below.
