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The number one article written on the other side of this debate opens with a story about one driver nearly getting into an accident due to a driver distracted by his cell phone. Certainly this happens every day. But just as certain as this happens every day, there are dozens more drivers who find themselves distracted by iPods, radios, screaming children, cheeseburgers, and a myriad other external factors. All of these distractions are dangerous, but does that mean we should create laws limiting the number of children a parent can have in the car? Should we ban adjusting one's car stereo while in motion? A study done with funding by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety that found that risks of using a cell phone while driving, " . . . is about the same as tuning a radio." So by the logic of the aforementioned writer, I suppose we should.

The new rage in this country is to reflexively scream for a ban when something comes along that some group of people doesn't like. For whatever reason when a certain number of people display some level incompetence in a particular field, society feels a need to jump in and protect them from themselves. Unfortunately the only way to do that is to create a law that effects everybody else. We need to realize that people can't be protected form themselves and that protecting people from themselves isn't what legislators are employed to do. The purpose of creating laws is to ensure the peaceful existence of a society and to protect people. But we must put a practical limit on what freedoms we are willing to eschew to stay protected.

Proponents of a ban on cell phones while driving point to statistics that cite an increasing number of cell phone related accidents over the past 5 years. The problem with this argument is that cell phones have gone from a luxury that only the few have to an almost necessary piece of equipment. As a result, a larger number of people have them today than five years ago so the numbers become skewed.

I have had a cell phone for about 7 years now, and frequently use it when I drive with, to this point, no negative consequences. I know a good number of other people who use their cell phones while they drive and none of them have been involved in accidents while on their phone. It would be patently unfair to tell us that we are not allowed to talk on our cell phones while driving even though we have done nothing to show that we are incapable of doing so.

We already have distracted driving laws in this country that disallow certain behaviors that have been proven to be dangerous. If we continue to decide that we must individually eliminate freedoms due to the incompetency of the few, we will find ourselves faced with a dwindling number of rights. It's time for people to realize that sometimes there are risks that cannot be mitigated and that's okay. Driving is inherently dangerous and people do dozens of things that put others at risk. Taking away the right of talking on a cell phone will do little if anything to make the streets safer. It will simply serve as another setback to personal freedom.

Learn more about this author, Kevin Jameson.
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