Hands-free phones for cyclists
Holland has more bikes than people and now cyclists can get not only hands-free mobile phone kits, but also bikes to attach them to …
… but only if they sign up with wireless telecoms operator Orange.
The plan was dreamed up by Bernard Uyttendaele, Orange’s Dutch chief financial officer who thought it unfair that only car owners are offered hands-free calling kits, says a Reuters story here, going on:
"Customers who take a two-year subscription at a minimum of 30 euros ($38.24) a month, will receive an Orange-branded bike, a mobile phone charger attached to the handle bar and a wireless headset that will allow them to negotiate traffic while keeping both hands on the wheel."
Handheld calling has been outlawed for car drivers in the Netherlands, but Dutch bikers can still be seen swerving around cars, trams, buses and pedestrians while steering with one hand and holding a mobile phone to their ear with the other, says the story, adding that more than 1.2 million Hollanders bike to work every day.
Subscribers can stick their old phone in the holder which has a wireless Bluetooth element which beams the call to the headset. The removable holder is connected to the bike’s battery and the handset charges during the ride.
