There’s this antecdote in my wide and varied and (very small) arsenal of antecdotes. I tend to like it, which is why I keep using it. So, when the Germans used to build cars, they didn’t put in radios or cup holders or back massagers or anything that would distract a person’s attention from operating the car. After all, the Germans reasoned, what do you have to do in the car that’s more important than not smashing it into someone else?

Meanwhile, here in America, we’ve always been fond of our driving distractions: listening to the radio while watching a portable TV while eating a sandwich and ripping out our nose hairs while trying to answer the damn cell phone. It’s a wonder our automobile-accident death rate is as low as it is.

There’s a bill in the Maryland Senate to ban hand-held wireless devices while operating a motor vehicle is heading for a vote. Personally, I think it’s very reasonable: at the same time, I don’t think it’s enough.

The problem with driving while holding and talking on, say, a cell phone (as opposed to a bannana) is two-fold: one is that you’re using a hand to hold your cell phone. What if the car in front of you swerves or you need to take emergency evasive action? Face it, you’re not going to have the reaction time or the ability with one hand even if that hand is supplemented by both knees.

I agree whole-heartedly with this excerpt from the linked article above:

Some lawmakers asked why drivers should be banned from using hand-held devices but allowed to use hands-free devices.

The second-half of that fold is that exactly: the problem isn’t holding something while driving, the problem is distracted driving. Even using a hands-free set, a driver talking on his or her cell phone is still distracted: the amount of concentration they’re putting into that phone call is attention away from the road.

There’s an interesting little bit on the Naval Safety Center’s webpage about distracted driving:

Driving instructors estimate that a driver makes 200 decisions for every mile of driving. If you’re mentally solving business or family problems while driving, you’re adding to the total cognitive workload. If you take your eyes off the road for three or four seconds at 55 mph, the car travels the length of a football field. Other factors, such as fatigue, weather and traffic conditions, can make distractions even more potent.

If Maryland’s legislators are serious about traffic safety, they’ll ban the use of cell phones while driving altogether, hands-free or no. If Marylanders are serious about traffic safety, we’ll start pulling over to the side of the road to answer our cell phones, read our maps, reach under the seat for that CD case. In the end, Annapolis can pass laws, but true traffic safety is all about the people you might kill or injure while driving distracted, and the decisions you make to negate that possibility.