People who use the phone, or eat, or whatever; if it was just their own lives that they were endangering, I would say fine, do what you like, but it isn’t - it’s the lives of small children who happen to be on the pavement when the phone user loses focus and swerves.
So do we ban eating while driving? Some studies have indicated that may be more distracting than cell phones. Ditto for conversations with passengers and smoking. How far shall we regulate things?
You are exactly right. There are people that shouldn’t eat while they drive. That would be a tough sell to the public if you wanted to enact a law against it though since almost everyone does it. However, the majority do not yet own a cellphone and talk while driving. Thats an easier sell…and a correct one IMHO. Just since one wrong is allowed doesn’t mean that they all should be.
I was drivin and talking on my cell phone yesterday and came to the following conclusion:
It’s not a big deal on the highway as long as you pay attention to the road in front of you.
On city streets, however, it is very distracting and actually makes it more dificult to drive the car because you only have one hand.
Of course, I also drive in and around Boston which has the biggest, most inconsiderate asshole drivers in the world (yes bigger than NYC).
Having a conversation on a cellphone is inherently different than talking with someone live. The fidelity sucks, the connections are often poor, it requires more attention to understand the person on the other line.
If you have a great connection, all is well, if you’re constantly saying ‘What? Say that again…’ into the phone, we’ve got a problem. I’ve seen people pay way too much attention to the conversation and way too little on driving. Stupid? Sure, but it does happen.
My point is that it’s the conversation, not the hand held aspect, that’s the problem. People drive all the time with one hand on the wheel without a problem. People who drive stick shifts have their right hands occupied constantly, not a big deal. Lack of attention causes the accident, not lack of hands on the wheel. Laws that outlaw hand-helds are attacking the wrong problem.
Talk on a cell phone while I drive? It is to laugh. I don’t even turn on the radio. I need all of my concentration not to hit things. I honestly don’t do anything but drive when I drive. Believe me, we’re all safer this way.
Creaky:
At the risk of being insulting, you are exactly the kind of person that these laws should only apply to.
I’ve often met people who simply have not, and usually never will, mastered the skill of driving a car. I am comfortable behind the wheel. And that doesn’t mean I’m lazy or complacent or unattentive. It means I can handle steering and braking and anticipating upcoming driving conditions well enough that I can also use the stereo or a cell phone at the same time.
Some people simply never become comportable behind the wheel. They drive scared their whole life. They keep a deathgrip on the steering wheel, they sit about 8 inches from the windshield, they NEVER use or trust their mirrors, and they always stare straight ahead constantly anticipating that a tractor trailer is about to slide in front of them.
These people are an accident waiting to happen. To them driving is an unnatural act. Every minute they’re on the road is like their first time behind the wheel.
And it’s you guys who are ruining it for the rest of us! 
Hail Ants, hon, no insult taken. I haven’t been driving very long and it does pretty much still scare the bejeusus outta me. I will not give up on this driving thing, though. Every time I do it I think (I hope) I get a little better. I refuse to end up like Miss Daisy… even though that’s what all my of friends already call me.
Huh! I’ll show them. With God as my witness, someday they’ll call me Penelope Pitstop! I can see it now… I’ll be driving, applying lipstick, fiddling with the CD player, making a pizza, teasing my hair, and chatting on the phone— simultaneously. A veritable smorgasbord of multi-tasking!
Muwahahah!!
HA: *I am comfortable behind the wheel. And that doesn’t mean I’m lazy or complacent or unattentive. It means I can handle steering and braking and anticipating upcoming driving conditions well enough that I can also use the stereo or a cell phone at the same time. *
Sorry Hail, but why should we believe you? After all, most people think that they’re good drivers. Many of them are wrong. If traffic safety statistics have taught us anything, it’s that we shouldn’t make decisions on what sort of driving behaviors are and aren’t safe based on people’s confidence in their own driving ability.
The award of the week for Creative Cell Phone Usage in this area goes to:
The driver who turned off a side street into a busy four-lane urban thoroughfare, realized she was heading the wrong way on a one-way street, careened broadside (blocking three lanes and causing half a dozen drivers including me to slam on our brakes, narrowly avoiding a crash, backed up and finally got going in the right direction — all without interrupting a microsecond of her cell phone call. Yup, she can handle the distraction, alright.
Honorable mention goes to two separate bozos sitting near us at the ballgame tonight, both of whom thought it would be such fun to dial buddies sitting elsewhere in the stands, and then stand up and encourage said buddies to wave to them - in one case in the middle of a rally with Jeff Bagwell at the plate, not that we could tell since Bozo #1 was blocking the view.
I share a small fragment of guilt today, because I phoned an M.D. to get some information on a case and didn’t hang up immediately once I realized she was on a cellphone while driving (there were also multiple small children in the car she was bellowing at during part of this time). Next time I’ll tell the person I’ll call back, and disconnect. I don’t need a crash on my conscience.
Well, I can do a lot of things while I drive. I can talk on the phone. I can eat a Big Mac and fries. I can even write email and surf the web with my Palm Pilot while stearing with my ghop.g. asrhgarshad hadf h…
Does anyone know the number for AAA?
Personally I’ve come to the conclusion that anyone who says their driving isn’t impaired by talking on the cell phone is lying. It is a danger and the current studies regarding cell phones back this up. Still, I would be hesitant to support legislation on cell phone usage just because of the inherent ineffectiveness of such laws. To attempt to legislate such a change in behaviour would only result in more paranoid “government’s out to take away my freedom” talk and do little to help road safety. Besides some people DO need cell phones, and their excuses for talking and driving aren’t spurious.
I think (some) people just need to rise above their egos and realize that when you drive a vehicle you are responsible for your safety and the safety of EVERYONE around you, and only a jerk would be so arrogant as to put their immediate wants above the lives of others.