SACRAMENTO, April 25 (UPI) -- Legislators in Sacramento, Calif., have been considering a bill to ban cell phones while driving for bus drivers and teens under the age of 18.
The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that even though a 2002 California Highway Patrol study endorsed the idea of banning hand-held cell phones while driving, legislators against the bill said that studies have shown that cell phones are not the only thing distracting drivers.
"The research is very sketchy on how much more dangerous are cell phones than eating a hamburger," said Anne Drumm, legislative representative for the Automobile Club of Southern California.
Hands-free phones might be a good alternative, according to California Assemblyman Joseph Simitian, a Democrat, who has sponsored a ban on hand-held phones for the past four years. "If we have a readily available technology that costs next to nothing and saves lives, why wouldn't we use that?" he asked.
However, this view has lost support as studies have found hands-free phones to be a significant distraction, perhaps as much as hand-held phones.
