The National Safety Council has taken on a big task: The council is advocating that states completely ban cell phone use while driving, including hand-held phones and hands-free phones.
There's no arguing that driving and talking on the phone are dangerous. Commons sense dictates that, not to mention the statistics that show cell phone use during driving increases the risk of a crash fourfold.
Still, it'll be a tough sell among state legislatures around the country and North Dakota will be no different.
The Safety Council says no state currently bans all cell phone use by drivers. Six states ban the use of hand-held phones while behind the wheel, and 17 states restrict the use of phones by young drivers.
Again, no one is arguing that driving and talking is dangerous. But so is eating and driving. And so is slurping from a Big Swig soda pop while driving. And so is talking to the passengers in your vehicle while driving. And so is listening to music while driving. You get the point.
In North Dakota, lawmakers have been unsuccessful at making wearing seat belts mandatory. What are the odds of making cell phone use illegal? Pretty slim, we'd say, although a North Dakota legislator has introduced a measure to ban text-messaging while driving.
Certainly businesses should encourage employees with company phones not to talk and drive. And everyone can help the problem by policing themselves.
But it will be awfully tough for any state legislature to pass a measure similar to the Safety?Council's recommendation of a total ban. Council officials say they will press Congress to take up the issue when it discusses a highway construction bill, perhaps even offering states incentives to enact cell phone laws.
We're not sure even bribery by Congress will work in this case.