Use my phone in the car? Absolutely - every day. I use ear buds that help lessen road noise, but still allow me to easily hear a cars horn or siren.
I’ve been enjoying the use of my cell phone to have long conversations with family members and friends for years, and now that I have a smart phone I listen to podcasts on my long commute to and from work every day (Car Talk being one of them). For those of us who spend a lot of time behind the wheel, being able to enjoy the use of technology to communicate/be entertained is a tremendous boon.
Being on the phone does lessen the amount of attention you give to the road, but after driving for 27 years, I’m pretty aware of what’s going on around me, and have had zero problems from using my phone.
One poster made a comment about proper phone etiquette being to answer the phone whenever it rings. This attitude baffles me, since a phone is a blind instrument - whoever’s on the other end has no idea what you’re doing. Does everyone who calls have an emergency that has to be addressed immediately? Is every caller going to be outraged if you don’t answer your phone, even when you’re in a movie theater, at church, at your children’s play, etc? Hardly. If it’s convenient while I’m driving, I’ll answer my phone. If not, I can always call back.
There are lots of drivers on the road driving very poorly and often very dangerously who aren’t on the phone, so let’s not say that phone use in the car is the cause of bad driving.
Bad driving habits, not paying attention, not maintaining a safe following distance, not traveling at an appropriate speed for the conditions, not practicing courteous driving – this is what causes problems, whether a cell phone is used or not.