Today there are approximately 9 states that ban handheld devices while driving and 35 states that ban texting while driving. Recently the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended all states ban the use of cell phones all together in vehicles. As John C. Dvorak expressed in his article on PCMag.com, “Presumably, this will eventually mean no radio in the car either. Also, kids and dogs should definitely be verboten.”

We have come out of the dark ages where these devices were big and bulky, consumed high power and networks supported only a few simultaneous conversations. Not to mention that you had to be in your car to use one and there was not push to talk or touch screen options. Today the devices are small, lightweight, mobile, personalized and to your liking. I like many people of the world use my cell phone to communicate with family, friends, and co-workers, conduct business, and enjoy a few fun applications from time to time whenever and wherever I want. Was this not why cell phones were developed?

I understand that texting while driving is just plain senseless, but having a conversation with someone to say hello, let them know you are running late or to review some open items is what keeps people motivated, mostly on-time, and in many cases focused. Think about if you could not let your client know you were running late, or review some last minute details with your partner before the big meeting…you would be speeding, swerving, and all over the road.

Dvorak recommends the NSB come up with a better solution like revert back to something similar to the old car phone model; bigger, easier to manage and less hands on. I agree. Maybe car companies can offer this as an additional add-on like GPS or Satellite radio. Companies will profit and the public will be happy. As Dvorak says “Banning chatter on the phone in the car is not ending by edict. All it will do is create scofflaws further isolating the public from the legal system in negative ways”…and “what do we get instead of a sensible and workable concept? We just get more recommendations for laws against something that everyone does. It's as if we are in the Soviet Union where there is a law against everything. The just-make-it-illegal bureaucrats at the NTSB should be fired immediately for this sort of blatant, unproductive stupidity.”
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Leigh Merz

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