making calls while driving

Another thread has again mentioned the police are as dangerous as the public when they make calls on the move. I don't agree.

I have trained with the IAM and RoADA and have learnt how benificial a commentary can be to a drive. Verbalising the drive can focus the mind more on the task at hand, but chatting to the observer-examiner can have the opposite affect.

A police driver verbalising a car chase would benifit from it. He will know the best time to make a transmission and went to shut up. Outside of emergency situations, transmissions tend to be short and contain pre learnt phrases. Add to this the level of driver training they have and I don't believe this adds up to increased danger.

I am learning to fly and one of the first things taught is to fly the plane first and talk second. It is difficult to split ones attention from a complex task in the chickenpit and a conversation with the ground. It is the same for a car driver.

If driving a car, concentrate on the drive, and if you need to communicate with someone, stop the vehicle first. -- Cessna172