A call, that is.
On July 1, driving while talking on a mobile phone (without hands free) is illegal. Hurrah! I wish they would have legislated against driving while talking on a mobile phone PERIOD.
It’s not so much that one hand used to hold a receiver is the issue, its the distracting conversation that we engage in that makes us terrible drivers. According to a University of Utah study, cell phone talking drivers are no better than drunk drivers at operating a car. The researcher’s recommendation? Don’t drive and talk at the same time.
I came to this realization a few years ago, and now unless it is a very urgent situation, I don’t talk on the phone while I drive. I make all my calls before I leave home/office, etc. One practice I’ve been doing is to think about a call I might need to make in the time window of an upcoming drive, and make that call before I get into the car. I call it “one more for the road”.
Honestly, most of our in-transit calls are low quality, irrelevant and silly. We make those calls because we can, and we love to multi-task. The reality is that we don’t need to use the phone while we drive; anymore than we need to read the paper, knit or do crossword puzzles.
