FIRST PERSON | Just about every morning, I call my Dad on his way to work. It’s a long commute with unbearable traffic, and our conversation distracts him from wondering if he’ll stay landlocked in a sea of cars until the sun heads back down.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, that distraction may be a problem. The NTSB, reports the LA Times, recommended states ban the use of all personal electronics in cars, including cell phone use with the type of integrated hands-free system in my Dad’s car. The call for a complete ban on cell phones while driving is not new; the National Safety Council offered the same recommendation in 2009.
As reported by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, no state currently bans all cell phone use, though nine states ban handheld phones while driving. While my state — Illinois — bans non-voice-activated use only in school and construction zones, the city of Chicago prohibits handheld cell phones, not that it appears to reduce the number of people you see with their phones pressed up to their ears, one hand on the wheel, while attempting a left-hand turn. My state, along with 34 others, according to the GHSA, ban texting while driving.
I agree with laws that ban texting and/or emailing while driving. You can see ones who do all over the road like drunk people, driving 25 miles per hour, weaving, heads tilted down, oblivious to anything but their typing thumbs. The news that the driver who caused a horrendous accident sent and received 11 text messages right before the collision only underscores the ban’s importance. It’s the mere talking on the phone that gets me. Can it really be that different than having a passenger in the car?
According to the NSC, yes, talking on a cell phone can cause situational blindness do drivers don’t “see” things like exits, red lights or other cars in the roadway. Talking and walking fares no better, according to an experiment by Prof. Ira Hyman, Jr., which the New York Times engagingly called “What Clown on a Unicycle?”
I’d hate to think that these morning chats with my Dad put him at risk for an accident. I’d also hate to give them up, which may lead to my underestimation of the danger involved. Then again, there are moments when he goes silent, when he’s changing lanes or gauging what is happening, and it is clear that his attention is on the road, where it belongs.
No one can read and/or type while driving, and phones should have a “car mode” that makes it impossible to do so. But talking while driving? Even with all the data, I’m still not convinced. And perhaps that’s because I don’t want to be.