Cell phone hangup would be a bad call
by Tom
Keane
I'm
driving along
Immediately I veer off
the road and into the
OK, not really. But according to some state legislators, that same ``can't
drive and chew gum'' phenomenon happens all the time with cell phones - and
that's what underlies their latest effort to get into the driver's sanctum: a
ban on handheld cell phones.
The Legislature's Joint
Committee on Public Safety announced support for a bill that would require
mobile phone users to use headsets. And for good
measure, those younger than 18 would be banned from using any kind of wireless
phone.
Without question, many
cell phone users are annoying. We've all seen them in their cars, phone tucked
under their chins, mouths contorted and both arms gesticulating as they try to
explain to Domino's that it's two cheese pizzas with extra pepperoni, not two
pepperoni with extra cheese. Or we've watched as,
preoccupied with a conversation, drivers forget where they are, sitting at a
light long after it's turned green, oblivious to the horns behind them.
They're jerks, no doubt,
and sometimes there's a deep sense of satisfaction in sticking it to them.
The problem with all
this, however, is that while it may make the offended among us feel good, a
headset requirement will do little to make us safer.
That's because virtually
every study that's been done suggests that taking cell phones out of people's
hands and forcing them to use headsets instead solves nothing. It's the
conversation that's distracting, not the cell phone itself.
Not
that this matters to the legislators. ``I, for one, feel much more comfortable
driving with a headset,'' Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Newton) is reported to have
said. And Rep. Geoffrey Hall (D-Westford) added, ``Ask
anyone who has almost been hit by someone driving and talking on a cell phone.
That's all the scientific evidence I need.''
It's a head-in-the-sand,
facts-be-damned approach to lawmaking.
Still, if lawmakers
actually cared about road safety, rather than simply getting headlines, there
are other approaches they might want to consider.
One would be a flat-out
ban on cell phones for everyone, not just the easy-to-pick-on teens.
Of course, the
legislators who voted for that would quickly find themselves ushered out of
office. And for good reason.
Mobile phones are widely
popular. They're convenient, they allow drivers stuck in traffic to get work
done and - anecdotes about distracted drivers aside -
they have proved a boon to public safety because mobile phone users report
accidents and tie-ups to police. That's what led the
And the alternative that
some suggest - pulling over to the side of the road to make a call - is
potentially more dangerous because of the risks of traffic accidents in the
breakdown lane.
Moreover, banning cell
phones doesn't solve the real problem: There are many distractions in a car and
some people just can't handle them.
cw1Because they are new and
visible, people have focused their ire on cell phones.
But users of wireless phones
aren't the only problem.
People exiting from
fast-food restaurants are preoccupied with making sure the special sauce from
their Big Mac doesn't spill onto their lap.
Drivers zoom along
changing stations, singing at the top of their lungs and staring at the
colorful GPS maps on their dashboards.
And during rush hour, it's
not uncommon to see some actually trying to read a book or the newspaper.
And
then
of course, there's the worst distraction of all: Other people in the car with
you. An argument, a discussion or a fight engages
one's attention far more than a mere conversation on a mobile phone.
Some ardent legislators,
in reading this, may think that perhaps it's time to ban passengers. But the better approach is to teach drivers how to drive.
I realize, of course,
that this sounds like I'm parroting the line of the wireless phone industry,
which is desperately eager to stop any cell phone bans.
So be it.
But the fact is, we allow
too many people behind the wheel who should never be driving at all. Life,
including life in a car, is filled with distractions.
Some people are like
Windows 98: They can't multitask without crashing. Others are like Windows XP:
they can do it all.
By all
means, make it harder to get a driver's license in the first place, teach
people how to concentrate on the task of driving and go after them when they
drive recklessly.
But we shouldn't be blaming
all drivers for the failings of a few.
Talk back to Tom Keane at