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Should cell phones be allowed to be used whilst driving? I would say no. The practice is no better than drink driving, as in both cases the driver's attention is not fully focused on the road ahead as it should be.

Conversations require thought, and this distracts the driver from the road ahead, even if they are using a Bluetooth headset. Even with both hands on the wheel they still must concentrate on what they are saying and listening to, rather than traffic conditions about them.

The listening of music in cars is different, because one does not have to concentrate on the music, it is a background element much like in a supermarket (well not taking into consideration those cars that are 'souped up' with sub-woofers) and thus is not distracting to a dangerous level. Talking to passengers in the car is not as dangerously distracting in a reasonable case (i.e not a heated argument) as due to the other person(s) involved in the conversation being within the car with the driver, as opposed to somewhere else and only connected to the driver by way of sound, there is less chance of miscommunication and thus less effort is required when formulating what we are going to say.

Also when the driver communicates with other individuals in the car let us not forget these individuals are most likely family, friends or acquaintances, and as such the driver will be less worried about what they might say, whereas a phone conversation with say ones boss at work might be a higher security risk if you said something by mistake. However all forms of distraction are just that, forms of distraction, and should not be overlooked when considering whether to make illegal the use of cell phones in cars or not.

Cell phones are especially distractive due to the fact they require us to think actively rather than in a more subconscious fashion, as would be the case with, say, listening to the car radio. We have to calculate our answers, and unless we are chatting to a good friend we have to put effort into this. But even talking to a friend in a casual way distracts the driver from the road, but only on the same level as talking to somebody else in the car.

There are worse things you could do, mind you. Applying makeup whilst driving, eating, drinking, et cetera, should of course all be done whilst at a standstill, and not whilst the car is in motion. But to ban the use of cell phones would surely make banning conversation with other individuals in the car on the same rung on the priority ladder,

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