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Sorry, but headsets and earpieces are not the answer to the problem. The answer is to wait until you are not driving to talk on the phone. Pull over somewhere. Talk in a parking lot. Anything but while you are driving.

It has been shown that when we talk on the phone we have 'attention blindness'. Meaning that we are thinking about the person on the phone or our conversation or dialing the number or whatever instead of the road in front of us.

I have talked on the phone and drove myself and I know that it isn't safe to do so. I know this because when my call ends, I often don't remember driving the last few seconds. Scary, huh?

My point is that ALL cell phone use during driving should be outlawed. That is the only safe way to go.

Actually, cell phone use is pretty far down the list of auto crash causes according to Virginia Commonwealth Univ. research conducted for the Va. Dept. of Motor Vehicles. http://www.sactaqc.org/Resources/Literature/Transportation/Cell_Phones_VCU.htm
This pretty much matches what other studies have found.
If we want to cut down on proven causes of crashes we could outlaw a few other things before we zero in on cell phones, like radios and carrying children in cars.
If we outlaw cell phone usage, should we outlaw all communication devices in vehicles? We'd be looking at the following: truck drivers could not radio each other traffic info without their CB radios; cab drivers would have to pull over and shut off their cabs to answer the radio. Duke Power trucks couldn't communicate with their office when responding to electrical enmergencies. Ambulances would have to pull over and shut off their ambulances before they could talk on the radio. All police vehicles would have to pull over and turn off the engine before they could talk on the radio. Think about that one.
I was a police officer for many years. Imagine what an officer has to do on an emergency response: he has to drive 90 miles an hour in heavy traffic, at night and in the rain, with the inside light on, steering with one hand while working the lights and siren, talking on the radio, and taking notes with the other hand. Is this more distracting than a cell phone call? Yes. Impossible? No. Every officer does it every day. All emergency workers do this as part of their work environment.
Virtually all city owned vehicles, like street maintenance, water and sewer, etc., use radios for their day to day operation and have since 2-way radio was invented. Tons of commercial businesses use radio communication in vehicle to conduct their trade. I don't think you'll find their crash rates in excess of private vehicles that don't have that capability. If you "outlaw" cell phones you'd have to outlaw all communication devices in vehicle.
All that said, I'm not trying to champion the use of cell phones in cars. Driving ability is a more important component in crashes, and any distraction may add to the risk.

John Appel, had you been involved in an accident with someone who just had to be talking on a cell phone when they crashed into you, feelings may be different.

I have been in that situation and what further added insult to the injury of that accident was that it occurred at a stoplight intersection! Even more worse is that the perpetrator of the accident was only 16 years old, still a provisional licensee! That driver was clearly and unequivicoally at fault. However, he did not receive a ticket!

Then, I attempted to contact the insurance company of the at fault driver. After waiting two days to pick up a copy of the accident report. Determining who was the insurer for that driver proved to be futile. Finally, after two weeks, I was contacted by that driver's insurance company. Turns out it was an indepenedent agent type thing. The settlement came, many months later.

My point is this, cell phone use DOES cause accidents, regardless of what statiscal reports say. Remember, statistics can be made to stand for anything, depending on who wants what stated!

Sadly, the provisional licensee came away with nothing but insurance points to his credit. He should have had worse due to the nature of the accident. So, stop the rhetoric about reports, etc. regarding cell phone use and accidents. See the real world where people live!

John,

You make good points about police and others' use of cellphones. I actually considered that while making my remarks about cellphones. Just because police do all those things while driving doesn't make it safe. Same can be said for truckdrivers and cab drivers. I do, however, expect a little more from these folks because this is their job. I would expect them to have training to address these issues. In addition, I've seen Duke power workers and I've been on long truck rides. I know that a lot of their conversations on two-way radio are for non-emergencies as well. In fact, I manage to drive on the interstate without anyone giving me traffic info via C.B.

I agree with Darryl that statistics can show many things. For instance, I bet that not all accidents caused by cellphone use are reported. In fact, I would bet very little are. I mean, who is going to admit that. That's like telling a cop (no offense) that you weren't wearing your seatbelt. Not gonna happen if you've got any intelligence in your head. Also, how many deaths does it take to make this an important issue? 5, 500, 5 million?

Also, as I'm sure you are aware, lots of police officers lose their lives in car accidents while trying to do too many things at once. And this is from people who should be trained to do these things.

I basically agree that emergency personnel and others should be able to communicate in cars. What I don't agree with is that the average Joe has to use a cellphone while driving. If it is really an emergency, most people will break the law anyway. I sure as heck wouldn't worry about the speed limit if I was carrying someone in critical condition to the hospital.

Darryl, I'm sorry you were involved in a crash, but you're more likely to be struck by someone doing things other than talking on a cell phone.
I'm not encouraging the use of cell phones in cars, just pointing out the facts about distractions that cause car crashes.
The fact remains that other distractions are more often the cause of a collision, such as tuning the radio, reaching for something, attending to children, watching the landscape, etc.
Basically, inattentive driving of many kinds contribute to crashes, cell phones are just not the top culprit.
If we want to cut down on crashes from inattention, we should target the ones most likely to cause crashes, i.e., outlaw listening to music, carrying children in a car, driver fatigue, or rubbernecking at the scene of a crash that has already occurred.

John,

I see your point on other distractions. You would know regarding the list of causes of crashes better than I. And I agree with what you are saying. But how reasonable is it to outlaw carrying children in a car?

Mr t, that's exactly my point, it is unreasonable. I also think it's unreasonable to direct all of this anger at the cell phones when it's 6th on the list of crash-causing distractions without worrying about the first 5.
Sort of like blaming guns for crime instead of holding people responsible for their criminal actions.

"Sort of like blaming guns for crime instead of holding people responsible for their criminal actions."

John--I don't think these folks are blaming cell phones, they're blaming the PEOPLE using the cell phones while they drive.

Stop Crying, I understand. I'm just a bit mystified why people single out an inanimate object, the cell phone, as the target for their rage when there are 5 other, more frequent causes of crashes due to distraction. Why not have a letter condemning the changing of radio stations in the car, it's far more dangerous. Or disciplining your child as you drive?
I just think it's similar to attacks on SUV's, etc. Again, I'm not saying that I think it's a good idea to talk on a cell phone, I just wonder why they aren't blaming the people instead of the object.

Sure, there may be 5 other causes, but cell phone use is still a cause. And should be outlawed.

Yep, I'm definitely with you on that point, John--it's definitely the people rather than the inanimate object. But, gosh some folks are just so insensitive--this afternoon, I was turning off of 311 onto Westchester--we had the light, but this lady's car was stopped in the intersection, effectively blocking all of us who wanted to turn. She was turning her wheel with one hand and trying to back up while she was happily chatting away on the phone. Just unbelieveable!

By the way, I was wondering what the "5 other causes" of accidents included. John--do you, or does anyone else on the board know?

Stop Crying, I cited the source above, it's Virginia Commonwealth Univ. research conducted for the Va. Dept. of Motor Vehicles: http://www.sactaqc.org/Resources/Literature/Transportation/Cell_Phones_VCU.htm
Yes, people do get distracted when driving. Sometimes bad things happen, sometimes people who are paying attention (like you were) are able to avoid the nitwits.

Rachel, if you had 6 things that led to something terrible happening, why would you only outlaw the one lowest on the list? Why not address the other 5 as well? It's because people using cell phones bother some other people. Call it envy or jealousy or whatever, but this is a convenient way to retaliate against those people. It's much the same as when people who think Yugo automobiles are great think SUV's are the scourge of the devil.

John,

I love my cellphone. I use it all the time. It is great for when I'm at the grocery store and I need to call my wife to find out if she meant whole milk or skim milk. It's great for emergencies or car problems. It's just a very cool resource to have.

But it doesn't make sense for me to drive while talking on it. And even worse, drive while trying to dial the number. And if someone can stop something that isn't necessary to save lives, then they should do it.

I don't think listening to music in the car has the same dangers that talking on a cell phone does. Regardless of the studies. (Now, changing a C.D. or looking for a radio station is another thing) That can be done when the car is stopped.

You can't outlaw having kids in the car because we don't have the option of leaving our kids at home by themselves.

We can't always help everything and that is evident in your list of top 5 causes of crashes. But if you can get rid of one danger, why not do that even if you can't get rid of all dangers.

Fiddling with the radio causes more crashes, not listening to it.
My point is that the writer has some agenda other than preventing crashes, or he would have attacked some of the other causes, not singled out one so far down the list. Obviously, something about people having cell phones has ticked him off.