Can someone please explain this to me?

[Hecate]

man jailed for causing crash while on mobile phone

First of all, it was tragic and my heart goes out to the bereaved, that goes without saying.

He was talking on a hands-free phone. That is legal, isn't it? - unless they've changed it again.

But what is the difference between talking on a hands-free kit for 23 minutes and talking to passengers in the car?

When I am in the car with dh and the kids, we chat. We listen to music, we laugh. How is that different from chatting with a hands-free kit?

And if it's not, then is that supposed to suggest that the driver of a car should remain mute? That talking inside a vehicle should be banned?

I thought the point about mobiles was that the button pressing etc was dangerous. But the talking? So you can't talk and drive?

He was jailed for causing death by dangerous driving, not explicity for phone use. The use of phone was one element of the evidence of dangerous driving. Other evidence was his failure to notice certain hazards etc.

And we would be just as guilty if it was kids or in-car convo. Terrifying thought.

Their argument was that he was not driving with due care and attention as he failed to notice that the traffic had slowed in front of him because he was talking on his hands free. Drivers should not be distracted whilst they are driving, which is why people get stopped and fined for eating/putting on makeup/using phone whilst driving. Hands free is still legal, I think he was just not paying attention to the driving.

this is interesting:

wikipedia

I often tell my passengers to shut up as I need to concentrate sometimes. Dc's I just have to try to blank out the racket. I much prefer driving alone, with no distractions apart from quiet music of my choice.

One lady almost went into the back of me last week. Looked in the rear and driver was looking at her passenger and not me.I had to beep to alert her to the red light ahead. She waved apologies etc but was still was scary!

Studies have showed that talking on a hands free phone is nearly as distracting or just as distracting as talking on a mobile phone.

The phone ringing or being sent a text is immediately distracting to a driver, as is setting up the hands free kit.

And a passenger in the car will hopefully stop talking in a potentially dangerous situation, whereas someone talking on the other end of the phone will have no clue.

if he allows his hands free kit to cause him to drive dangerously then he should be charged as such. the fact that it's legal to drive whle on a hands free kit is not an excuse to allow the quality of your driving to deteriorate.
this goes for eating,talking,playing music too loudly. if it effects your driving and causes an accident it can still be mentioned as a contributing factor.
also goes for people driving with kids in the car and think that a "baby/child on board" sign excuses them from paying attention to the road or somehow makes them special