I decided not to equip my car right away for hands-free cellphone use after the new City law banning hand-held phones while driving took effect July 1. I wanted to take a break from car conversations for a couple of weeks. You know, collect my thoughts, listen to music, make plans in my head.
Since I drive quite a bit-- first to get to my workplace and then to get to appointments--that's a lot of phone-free time. I expected car bliss, ringless zen.
Nope. Instead, I find it maddening not to pick up, especially when I'm sitting at a long light or there's a tedious traffic slowdown. And sometimes, when there's been an urgent call or someone is cancelling a meeting to which I'm on my way, it's outright inconvenient.
I haven't cheated, haven't risked a citation. And I haven't noticed anyone else sneaking a text or putting their phone to their ear in the car, either. However, it's easy to spot Oahu motorists pulling off the road to make or take handheld-cell calls. And it's even easier to see people driving solo and yakking away to unseen hands-free phone devices.
For the record, I'm done with my pursuit of car phone silence. It just means more phone calls at my desk.
I'm getting a device to clip onto my car visor so that I too can drive solo but never be at a loss for conversation.
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