When I travel for business, typically I speed across the country via airplane or train. Only on very rare occasions do I drive, and when I do, I nearly always begin the trip by creating a new voice-mail greeting that says something like this: “During the next two hours I will be driving from one presentation site to another. While I am in transit, my cell phone will be turned off. Please feel free to leave a voice-mail message. As soon as I arrive at my destination, I will return calls as quickly as possible.”

 

I have long suspected that I may be the only person in America who does not talk on a cell phone while driving. For me driving while talking is simply not a safe option. Long ago I realized that I could concentrate on traffic or on a phone call, but not both.

 

It turns out that in this respect I may not be alone. On Monday, the National Safety Council, the group that has pushed for seat belt laws and promoted drunk driving awareness, proposed an outright ban on cell phone use while driving. The proposed ban, which would extend to hands-free cell phone use, is based upon statistical data that drivers talking on cell phones are four times more likely to have an accident than drivers who are not.

 

Hands free cell phone devices seem not to affect the likelihood of auto accidents. Rather, it appears that phone conversations take a significant toll on any driver’s attention and visual processing skills. Research indicates that cell phone calls are uniquely distracting, affecting one’s ability to drive in a way that listening to a car radio or having a conversation with a live person does not.

 

If work requires you to travel by car, turn off your cell phone. You can easily stop periodically to check your voice-mail messages. If you are expecting an “emergency” phone call, when it comes in, pull off the road before beginning your conversation.