Call for cell phone ban while driving draws mixed reviews

Last week’s call by the National Safety Council (NSC) for states to ban drivers from using hand-held and hands-free cell phones while driving is drawing mixed reviews.
Among those backing the proposal are members of the law enforcement community.
“Any time you take the concentration off of driving I feel that we need to restrict it. I’m definitely for the banning of the telephone calls while you’re driving and the text messaging. It’s just very dangerous to the motorists. They’re not paying attention to what they’re doing while they’re operating the vehicle,” said Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Shinn. “We’re seeing a rise in traffic crashes just here locally because of cell phones, whether they drop a cell phone, reach down and get it, or they’re text messaging on a cell phone.”
“We cannot come out and support any specific legislation but we are certainly for any type of legislation that promotes safety on our highways,” said Sgt. Brent Bernhardt, communications officer for the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Troop B. “When you look at all the traffic crashes that we investigate, most traffic crashes are caused by what we term ‘inattention.’ Anytime that you perform any task while you’re driving, even as minor as it may seen and as easy as it might seem on its own, whether it’s talking on a cell phone, whether it’s looking for a CD to put in your CD player, reading a map, or bending down to pick up something that’s dropped on the floor, all those simple things can be an unsafe driving practice. Our thought is we want to do everything we can to make sure that people are paying attention when they’re driving.”
Missouri lawmakers are taking a more reserved attitude in regard to the request.
“I think it’s a really interesting proposal,” said State Rep. Rachel Bringer, D-Palmyra, adding she has already heard reservations voiced by area storm spotters. “I think as it is written it probably can still use some work, but that’s what the legislative process is all about.”
“I would probably support the talking on the phone and texting,” said State Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence. “I don’t know about the hands free. There’s options that are built into cars already that are hands free and it seems that may be something that probably will find the most resistance. That’s where I would see the most opposition to that legislation. I would suspect someone would have an amendment that would exempt hands free.”
No state currently bans all cell phone use while driving. Six states - California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington - and the District of Columbia (DC) ban the use of hand-held cell phones behind the wheel, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Also, 17 states and the district restrict or ban cell phone use by novice drivers.
Joe Farren, assistant vice president for public affairs CTIA which is the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, does not totally disregard the NSC’s recommendation.
“There is a tremendous amount of common ground between the industry and the National Safety Council,” he said. “For instance, we both agree that no one should be text messaging when behind the wheel. We also agree that it is appropriate to have certain restrictions on teen-age drivers, folks who are just learning how to drive. We do share several opinions. But we would be concerned about a scenario like this, if a 15-year-old daughter was calling a parent to say, ‘Hey I’m no longer at the mall, but I’m at the movie theater,’ or ‘I’m no longer at the front entrance of the school, I’m at the rear entrance.’ Should we ban entirely that 15-second phone call? We think that might be a bridge too far.”