The National Transportation Safety Board made what might seem like a common sense recommendation on December 13, 2011. The NTSB recommended that all states in the country should ban phone calls and text messages for every driver of all vehicle types, unless they are using a device that was installed by the vehicle manufacturer. The recommendation does apply to both hand-held devices and hands-free devices that are not part of the original vehicle manufacturer installed equipment. Unfortunately for safety advocates, this recommendation faces a stark reality because the use of cell phones while driving is governed by each individual state. The reality is that it will take a long time for each individual state to first pass a ban, then begin enforcement, and then hope for the behavior of drivers to actually change.

Convincing state governments that the ban is a good idea might, surprisingly, be one of the more difficult challenges. By all accounts, lawmakers nationwide do not see the urgency of a ban or believe that the public wants one. People have become accustomed to constantly being connected to the extent that they are probably blind to the dangers posed by cell phone use while driving. Perhaps the recommended ban will at least cause people to consider the dangers. Some studies have determined that cell phone use while driving is just as dangerous as driving under the influence. Others have found that cell phone use makes a driver four times more likely to cause an accident.

Currently nine states and the District of Columbia prohibit hand-held cell phones while driving. The law in a tenth state, Utah, makes speaking on a hand-held phone a careless driving offense if it is accompanied by another moving violation. Thirty states and the District of Columbia completely prohibit novice drivers and teenagers from using cell phones while driving, but no state has imposed such a ban on all drivers. Last month the federal government banned interstate truck and bus drivers from using cell phones while driving.