QotD: Drivin' & Talkin'

Should driving while talking on a cell phone be outlawed? 
Submitted by Soup.  

Probably, but if we're going to do that we should be consistent and ban a whole host of other activities while driving. 

To the extent driving is really piloting a multi-thousand pound projectile through a series of obstacles, including follow humans, drivers should focus on this activity with 100% of their concentration.  That clearly wasn't happening even before cell phones.  If we're really focused on safety, we should ban audio systems in cars since they are both a distraction and an impediment to hearing dangers like trains and emergency vehicles.  And we should also ban eating and drinking in cars since those are also distractions from the task at hand.  And while we're focused on keeping drivers focused on the life-critical task of driving, we should ban roadside display advertising (billboards) since they are also designed to take the driver's attention away from what he/she is doing.

You can see where this is going...

Ultimately, regardless of the actions taken, there will be drivers who take their task seriously and those who don't and present a danger to others.  I'm not convinced that banning cell phone conversations will accomplish much at all.  Heck, I remember loud arguments with my sister in the back seat of the family car while we were kids, and I'm sure that was much more distracting to our parents than any cell phone conversations they might have had.

You could argue that tasks that involve reading should be banned while driving.  These could include dialing a cellphone (make people get/use voice-activated dialing), reading, and text messaging.  I'm not sure these bans would be all that much more effective in promoting safety, but at least they would be more narrowly targeted on tasks that are impossible for most drivers to perform safely.