Hands-free headsets while driving aren't distraction-free enough for France.
The French government passed a new law over the weekend, making the use of hands-free headsets—while driving a car, motorcycle or even bicycle—illegal, as reported by Numerama, a French publication. Drivers found guilty of doing so will be fined and have three penalty points slashed from their license.
Driving this rule all the way home is that the new law doesn't apply to merely making phone calls while behind the wheel. It also applies to anything deemed as emitting sound from the headset—including music or podcasts. The only exceptions to the rule are drivers in need of hearing aids or drivers operating boisterous alarming vehicles such as police cars, ambulances and firetrucks. All may still use hands-free headsets when driving.
Oddly enough, other exceptions to the rule include headsets already built into motorcycle helmets and hands-free infotainment systems via the car's dashboard.
It's strange that the French government has installed the rule to prevent drivers from being distracted, but still allow for them to use dashboard infotainment systems. Aren't those as distracting—if not more distracting?
According to Ars Technica of the UK, the French government pointed to a 2013 explanation from the National Road Safety Council, when it made its original plead for the ban on hands-free headsets.
"Many people imagine that the danger is in the physical use of the telephone, the fact of holding it in the hand, when the threat comes from distracting attention," it said at the time.
Let's see if France gets the results it wants with this new rule.
