Is It Time to Make Driving on Your Mobile Illegal?
A recent study found that driving while talking on your mobile quadruples your crash risk with only a minor difference between holding the phone to your ear or using a hand-free setup. Assuming this is true, and we’ll need some additional studies to be sure, is it time to make driving while talking on your mobile against the law? At the very least, it looks like all those state laws requiring a hands-free kit are nearly useless (except to those companies selling the kits).
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That URL doesn’t seem to work. I don’t think the problem is related directly to phone usage. I think it is related to anything and everything that distracts the driver from the road. It can be the loud music, the kids in the back seat, the argument with the spouse in the back seat, the phone conversation, the attractive person on the outside, the ugly person on the outside, the food in the lap, the makeup application, the sun visor mirror, the newspaper reading, or all the above. It is even worse when you see people do multiples of the previous.
One time I was reading a book while driving and I hit the guy in front of me. I didn’t hit him very hard, but we both got out to inspect the damage. I told him that “I spaced out”.
The only time I can stand to talk on the phone to most people I know is when I’m wasting my time in my car. Please don’t take that away from me. I don’t want to have to use precious staring-at-the-wall-at-home time to talk to my family & friends.