If you were in gradeschool they'd make fun of your Siemens Bike-O-Meter
By Ryan Block 
posted July 26th 2004 5:09AM
posted July 26th 2004 5:09AM
While we're having a tough enough time getting people to talk on headsets in the car, the Brits have gone right ahead and banned car cellphone calls entirely (what next, you're not allowed to talk to the passengers?). And since, you know, they're not gluttonous gas hogs they also bicycle a bit, so the Bike-O-Meter thing was kind of just waiting to happen. You attach it onto your "handlebars" (what the hell are those?) and you can make calls from your Siemens M65 just like that. Plus, now you have someone to blame when you wipe out in the hard British rain and hit a bunch of fat Yankee tourists.
...'banned' in that you can't hold the phone while you talk on/text on it. It's legal to use a hands free kit, as long as it prevents you from having to interact with the phone physically.
I guess the special feature (since you could attach every phone to your bike) is that you can attach an (optional) sensor to the M65 so that it acts as a bike-tachymeter. It's pretty stupid still, since you can buy much better tachymeters for your bike for much less money, but that's another story.
Orange in the Netherlands did this months ago..a cool bike free with a subscription..cradle for the phone and a bluetooth headset to go along with it..so you can cycle and talk handsfree.... and the bike were way cool as well !!!
The handlebars are the things you hold on to to steer the bike, where the brakes are. wiroboro is right - talking on a mobile phone isn't illegal in the UK as long as you have a hands-free kit. If you don't, you need to pull off at the side of the road and stop the car. It's a good idea - if you see someone driving recklessly you can bet your uncle that they're chatting away to someone on their mobile.
This has the added advantage that people will steal your phone while you're waiting at the traffic lights instead of just mugging you. So remember, real bicyclists don't stop.
Maybe when the same amount of Americans have cellphones like we do here in the UK your government will ban talking without handsfree too