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They meander into other driving lanes; neglect to indicate before turning; make very sudden stops; slow to a crawl or make sudden spurts on highways; or otherwise inconvenience other drivers by ignoring green lights. Whether they are driving cars at the end of their lives or top-of-the-line expensive ones. It's the scourge of the road: drivers distracted through cell phone use.

I am passenger-side, front-seat, in a minivan going 80 miles per hour in the fast lane. There are 15 passengers in the minivan. The driver has his Bluetooth earphones on and a call comes in. In the middle of the conversation this genius of a driver gets out his pen and notebook and -Lord Have Mercy! - begins to scribble down telephone numbers or whatever in an episode of "no-hands" driving. In consternation, I grab the pen and notebook from him and write the information down for him. What is this madness?

It is true that emergencies do crop up that may require quick contact with emergency services, for example, but then the driver can exit the highway or come off the road and put their hazard lights on. It is clear that, all facts considered, cell phone use while driving should be outlawed. The disadvantages dangerously outweigh the advantages of using a cell phone while driving.

A 2005 study cited in the quarterly journal, Human Factors, found that each year, cell phone distraction was responsible for 2600 fatalities and 330,000 injuries. Each year 42,000 drivers die in U.S. auto accidents. Drivers speaking on cell phones were 18 percent less reactive to brake lights, although the study found that those drivers allowed a 12 percent greater following distance.

Studies have shown that cell phone use during driving does lead to dangerous changes in a driver's behavior: change in average speed; slower brake reaction time; slower response time to traffic light changes; and reduced monitoring of mirrors and instruments.

Cell phone use while driving is banned in California, Connecticut, Washington D.C., New Jersey, New York and Washington (including text messaging). There are partial bans in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.

There are also bans in Brazil, China, Russia, Japan and most of the European Union as well. In the Netherlands, infractions can bring fines of up to 2000 Euros or two weeks in jail.

The emergence of the smart phone has added another unwelcomed wrinkle to the mix. IPhone users can now download more than 25,000 applications from Apple's iTunes store providing further distractions to drivers.

For a cautionary tale about the impact of distractions while driving a moving vehicle, one need only look at the September 12, 2008 train accident in Chatsworth, California. The train driver was allegedly sending and receiving text messages moments before the accident, which killed 25 people and injured one hundred and thrity five.

Learn more about this author, Colin Dennis.
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