I appreciate that you minimize your time on the phone. I admit that I have answered the phone long enough to say “I am driving. Let me call you back as soon as I have a chance to pull over.” If only everyone would exercise the same discretion, this would not be such a hot-button issue. The true offenders are the ones who have a phone stuck to their ears the whole time, falsely thinking that it doesn’t increase their probability of causing a collision.
Do you really think attention span and the ability to multitask are functions of intelligence? Then I guess accident statistics should support this argument and smart people never have collisions? I would love to see some factual evidence of this.
Psychological test after test proves that multitasking is a myth, especially for males. Our brains are wired to concentrate on one thing at a time.
i think the main issue with cell phone use is an ergonomic one. drivers focusing their attention on a tiny device with little buttons. studies have shown that the act of talking on a cell phone is just as distracting whether one uses a headset or holds the phone up to their ear. if that’s the case then simply talking with someone in your car (whether they’re sitting next to you or not) should be just as heinous a crime as using a cell phone while driving. anecdotal evidence and popular opinion are the things that drive laws like these into effect. polls are useless without clinical evidence. case in point: while it was illegal to drive in california while talking on a cell phone, it was still legal to receive and send text messages (at least temporarily, until people caught on).
There is a germ of an idea here. The behavior of these compulsive cellphone communicators resembles that of persons addicted to drugs or alcohol. Since using a cellphone while driving imposes the same risk as DUI why not include cellphone use to the existing DUI statutes. Perhaps loosing their drivers license, having their car impounded, and spending time in the county jail or state prison would get more of their attention than driving does when they are on the phone.
Lets be sure we make this cellphone use and not just talking on the cellphone. I often see drivers TEXTING on the freeway. No one can multi-task that well.
There are plenty of highways in this country where you can nearly read a book safely because they are straight and have little traffic. There should be no problem making and taking phone calls. That said, I am really annoyed by drivers holding up traffic while talking on their phones.
Yes, but what if someone tries to cut you off? If you’re buried in a book (or a phone), you aren’t focusing on the road.
As of today July 29-09 Congress is seriously discussing a national texting ban. About time! A recent Virginia Tech Transportation Institute-VTTI-study found that texting while driving increases accident rates by more than 20%. I guess that still raises the question on cell phones in cars. We are all at great risk due to this technological gadget that is so prevalent in our lives now.
And…what about cell phone jamming? After some looking around the internet I found out that there are cell phone jammers out there, some are cheap. But, the FCC can arrest you for it! Its illegal to jam cell phone signals. Somehow it is not in Europe?
BTW those cell jammers can jam signals within a small radius, perfect for a car. Maybe moms and dads should buy them for thier teens??
How about if only 911 calls could go through if the phone was moving over 20 miles per hour?
I have only 24 hours in my day, just like all the people talking on cells while driving. I can wait until I stop or, occasionally, stop because I get a call. They could, and should, too.
While approaching kansas city MO my wife, kids and I were broadsided by some guy trying to reach his son in the hospital. (we almost went over a 50 ft enbankment! Rescently some guy in a gigantic off road truck hit my little sebring with 2 other passengers, CELL PHONE USE! It is beyond me how anyone can constitute using something that take their attention away from what they are doing on the road… many peopole use them and yes they drive like idiots. Far be it that you try and save a life of someone while risking your life and another persons or peoples life on the road. I am not totally against cell usage but here is something that you all might want to think about there are options on cars that link your cell with the car. I just rented a car to go out of town and it had it on the dash, use it or get one!? For anyone the lay claim to a hypothetical situation like family being rushed to the ER or something, you cantdo anything for that person dead! You certainly cant do anything if youre sued for every penny you make for the rest of your life. With that said, get smart and stop taking risk with other peoples life, we all only have one to live and one to give so make it as safe and enjoyable as you can and remember KARMAS a (*****). 
I think personally people should have to pass a mental wellness test before they can get their liscense! I have noticed that most people here are on their cellphones from the time they are on the highway until they arrive at their destination, they do not focus on the whole of traffic instead they see a narrow veiw. I once tried to use a cell while driving, I had to pull over on the side of the road. There is no way I felt safe while driving and I felt like if I made a mistake I would hurt someone. I guess if you have a lesser conscience and do not care about people or life in general you can opt to focus on your conversation. If its an emergency and youre a doctor or something you can get a text option and most cells have pager function on them. So really is there any reason not to go home after the call? What is your life worth? What is the driver next to you worth? To tell you the truth if it were that I was the innocent bystandard or innocent driver and I got hit I would personally make sure that you lose everything you had, because knowing what it can cause you still did what you were going to do and it harmed me or who ever i had in the car with me.I may even try to go for a assault charge if possible.
If it takes half an hour for your doctor to pull off the road and call in, I don’t think I want your Doctor working on my child. It takes ‘seconds’ to pull over and make a call.
This is an excellent series on this subject:
My husband was killed in July of 2008 by two poor drivers: Driver#1 stopped in the traveling lane instead of pulling into a left-hand turn lane. (She was on too many prescription drugs to be able to drive–a topic for another day.) Driver#2 admitted to looking up too late from his Blackberry to react to Driver#1. He ended up careening into ongoing traffic, hitting my husband’s car head on. I believe if Driver#2 had been paying attention to his driving, my husband would have come home to me. We all think we’re such good drivers that we can multi-task. We can’t. You can’t predict when you need to react in a split second to someone else’s stupidity.