Ban Cell Phone Use While Driving? National Safety Council Calls for Change

The National Safety Council has taken the “distracted driving” debate into its own hands, according to the 11 Alive news website. While other groups have proposed that drivers use hands-free devices or only ban cell phone use while driving for teens, the Council hopes to ban cell phone use behind the wheel completely.  The District of Columbia and six states have banned the use of hand-held phones on the roadway:  California, New Jersey, Utah, Connecticut, Washington, and New York.  D.C. also joins seventeen other states in restricting cell phone use for teen drivers.  Although a total ban across all 50 states could potentially take years to accomplish,  the congressionally chartered Safety Council will not lessen its efforts to ensure safer roadways across the nation.  The group advises businesses to prohibit their employees from using cell phones on the road for work-related calls and sees distracted driving due to cell phone use as a similar act to drunk driving.  President and Chief Executive of the Council Janet Froetscher says that the risk of a traffic accident increases fourfold when a driver talks on the phone.