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Our first instinct in this country is to turn to "new laws" to correct the poor behavior of other people. That's okay; laws are designed to protect us from the poor choices of others. However, the knee-jerk reaction of "ban it!" should be tempered with common sense and logic.

There is no need for a new law specifically regarding speaking on cell phones. We already have laws in this country prohibiting "distracted driving," and they are effective. Distracted driving is an offense which includes many different kinds of distracting behaviors, including eating, reading books or newspapers, dealing with screaming children, too many teens in one vehicle, applying make-up, etc. These behaviors cause the driver to turn their attention away from the road and towards something else. Indeed, cell phone use (or more appropriately, misuse) while driving is included in this category. In my years of driving the Interstate between my city and the next (about 60 miles each way), I've seen commuters doing the most amazing things (all of the things mentioned in the list above), and I was continually amazed that I arrived safely at my destination.

The problem with cell phone use is not the conversation. If that were the case, we would have to ban any communication with the driver in cars (including with the passengers) so that they are not distracted. The cause of so many accidents involving cell phones is simple. Holding a phone to your head limits your field of view, and usually also limits the free movement of your head to look around you. Additionally, the bigger cause of accidents involving cell phones is when people look down to dial the small numbers which take quite a bit of focus to hit (meaning longer periods of eyes-off-the-road), and more recently, a behavior coined "texting while driving." Six states, including New York, California and Florida, are considering legislation that would ban texting while driving. Washington banned texting while driving in May. This behavior takes far more attention away from the road than anything else. More than 91% of people surveyed support bans on texting while driving.

However, extending that ban to cell phone use in general does not pass muster. If you can operate the phone safely, and not allow it to block your field of view or hamper your head movements (i.e. using some sort of hands-free device), it should not need to be banned. Once you've connected the call, speaking on a hands-free device is no different

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