I stopped using my mobile in my car when it became illegal. I stopped only for that reason.
I am told frequently that empirical work carried out in a thousand places by very clever people has proved that driving while on the 'phone is as dangerous as driving drunk. I do not dispute what has been measured and written down and compared with brow furrowed and pencil sucked... But...
I know many, many people who have crashed while over the limit or been hit or injured or forced off the road by a drunk driver. I read frequently of incidents of drunk driving involving people I've never met and the terrible consequences caused by this behaviour.
I see drivers on their 'phones (hand-held) daily. We all do. It is a rare trip (car or bicycle) when I don't see quite a few... pretending to scratch their ear, seeming to drive with head tilted... We all see it many times daily. Many, many, many times.
Of course I'll never be sure, but I do not believe I see drunk drivers on the road many times daily.
But for all that (and not wishing to say that there is no risk involved) I read very rarely of incidents involving 'phone use. I have yet to witness one.
One might argue that a drunk driver is drunk from the moment she enters the car to the moment she leaves it (or he), whilst a 'phone user is exposing others to risk only while using the device... But I still see a disparity between observed risk and that which is shown by empirical study.
I do not advocate the use of 'phones while driving and would not want the law reppealed now that it is in place, but I see 'phone use while driving much as I see CD-changing or cigarette-lighting or radio-tuning or chocolate-eating while driving: Not wonderful behaviour, but not something to get overly squawky about.
If it were still legal, I would still take voice calls while driving. Because it is not, I do not.
For what it's worth, I drive a pretty shabby low-end car.
