Should Cell Phones Be Banned on the Road?

Unless you're a stunt driver — like the ones in the 1996 film "Crash" — no one intends to be in an automobile accident.

But, more and more frequently, people who insist on talking on their cell phones while trying to operate their vehicles find themselves in accidents with other drivers, often resulting in serious injuries and sometimes causing the deaths of motorists.

That's why the National Safety Council is urging a nationwide ban on using cell phones behind the wheel.

Understandably, the cell phone industry opposes the move, and politicians are reluctant to embrace it, believing that supporting it will cost them votes.

Courage is required.

Cell phones make many things possible today. For example, parents can keep in touch with their children, even when those children are nowhere near a traditional landline phone.

That can be valuable in many ways and many situations. When young people were being slaughtered at Columbine a decade ago, there's no telling how many parents' minds were put at ease with the knowledge cell phones provided that their children were safe.

But cell phones can also be a distraction, one that can have deadly consequences in other situations.

It will be a hard law to enforce.

If someone is pulled over by a police officer and ticketed for talking on a cell phone while operating a vehicle, that person can claim to have been answering an emergency call — even if the truth is that the person overslept and is running late for work or is merely chatting with a friend.

Certain provisions need to be included in such a ban. People with more knowledge of the technology than I need to be involved in the writing of such laws.

Common sense says that there are situations in which speaking on a cell phone is necessary, even behind the wheel.

But studies have shown that drivers can be distracted from the task of driving simply by conversing with a passenger. That risk is compounded by trying to simultaneously operate a cell phone and a vehicle.

A driver has two hands and two eyes. Both should be focused on the primary job, which is to operate the vehicle.

There must be an answer that will address everyone's concerns — even if it is completely satisfactory to no one.