Many states (and Washington DC) have and are instituting a law that prohibits you from driving and talking on a hand held cell phone, unless you have a hands free device. While it would seem this is really a step in the right direction, my question is what about these other offenses:

Driving while:

  • Entering address into navigation system
  • Eating
  • Applying make up
  • Talking to passenger
  • Changing CDs or radio stations
  • Rubbernecking
  • Adjusting rearview mirror while moving
  • Allowing your pet to roam in your car while moving
  • Yelling at children in the back seat(s)
  • Shaving
  • Adjusting climate control
  • Smoking
  • The list goes on…

So where are the boundaries in prohibiting someone from doing something while driving? If they really want to remove distraction from our daily driving commute, it would seem that they should remove all the distractions.

Here is some interesting information from the Crashworthiness Data System from 1995-1999 of the 8.3% of total car accidents that where determined to be caused by a distraction (keep in mind that this is what the accidents where believed to be caused by):

  • 29.4% of accidents where caused by an outside distraction such as accidents (rubbernecking), Billboards (I have been seeing a lot of billboards showcasing some large cleavage these days, how can you not look).
  • 11.4% of accidents where caused by adjusting the radio, cd, tape, etc.
  • 10.9% of accidents where caused by other vehicle occupant (i.e. tending to children in the back seat).
  • 4.3% of accidents where caused by moving objects in the car (i.e. roaming pet)
  • 2.9% of accidents where caused by using a device/object brought into the car. (i.e. shaving)
  • 2.8% of accidents where caused by adjusting climate control.
  • 1.7% of accidents where caused by eating and drinking while driving.
  • 1.5% of the accidents where caused by dialing or talking on a cell phone.
  • .9% of the accidents where caused by smoking related activities.
  • 25.6% of accidents where caused by other distractions (maybe putting on makeup would fall under this category).
  • 8.6% of accidents where caused by unknown distractions.

So, when are they going to outlaw; billboards, rubbernecking, playing music in your car, passengers (especially kids!), pets (free roaming), air conditioning and heat, food and drinks and smoking (New Jersey is trying right now to outlaw smoking and driving!).

Okay so my real question is why are we approaching this list from the bottom up? Are there are other factors behind the motivation for putting restrictions on cell phone usage while driving?

It would seem to me that the real solution to this problem is to educate people on the real cause of distraction related accidents and improve these onboard distracting devices to truly be mobile (maybe voice activated everything). It is time to stop treating us like children, just my opinion.


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