Posted on: Friday, June 29, 2001

Editorial
New York should be cell phone test case

Admit it. Holding a cell phone to your ear and talking on the phone while you're on the road is distracting.

Ditto for combing your hair, putting on makeup, looking for something in your purse or briefcase, eating, drinking coffee and the myriad other ways drivers find to distract themselves from giving their full attention to the road.

It should be enough to send all of us to defensive- driving school.

New York decided to do something about it. And surveys show most New Yorkers are glad their state has banned drivers from using cell phones. The new New York law allows use of a headset or a hands-free cell phone while driving. It also allows cell phone calls to 911.

A bill was proposed in the Hawai'i Legislature this year to require drivers to use headsets or hands-free devices if they can't avoid the urge to gab on the phone while behind the wheel. The bill died in committee.

New York has given us the opportunity to see whether this kind of law makes any difference before we add more statutes here. If it cuts down on accidents and improves attention to driving, then Hawai'i should consider a similar law.

Until then, police already have recourse. Honolulu police say the existing, generic citation for "inattention to driving" gives them the right to go after unsafe use of cell phones.

No one wants to prohibit phones from cars. They are an important safety measure, enabling us to call for help and report problems and emergencies. But, frankly, their use by drivers should be limited to emergencies. Even with a headset, talking on the phone takes our attention away from traffic.

Just as police are cracking down on speeding, they should give more attention to inattentive drivers whether they are on cell phones or tooling down King Street while eating lunch and hunting for a CD to pop into the player. It shouldn't take an accident to get us to learn that driving takes our full attention.

So, please, pull over to make that urgent call or let your voice mail answer the phone. You might even want that voice mail to have the message say: "Hi, I'm in the middle of traffic right now. I'll call you back as soon as I find a safe place to pull over."

Let's be careful out there.