Only complete cell phone ban while driving would improve safety

Most of the danger in voice communication on a cell phone comes NOT from holding the phone or dialing it. The danger comes from the mental distraction with the content of the call.

A driver can choose a safe time to dial, for example when stopped at a light. They can choose not to answer a call when in a tight traffic situation.

But the driver cannot choose the time when the person on the other end of the line asks a difficult question, or relays some disturbing news, or otherwise causes the driver to divert critical attention away from the complex task of driving - sometimes just when the driver needs all their mental focus on the road ahead to avoid an accident situation.

A restriction to the hands-free mode for voice calls does NOT fix the real problem - the mental distraction. It is a nice bit of "feel-good" legislation that looks like some action was taken, but it has almost no real safety value.

As you know from the folder of information I mailed you in August 2009, the National Safety Council asked in January 2009 for every state to pass a total ban on cell phone use while driving. That is the only effective legislation.

The mayor is right, we cannot depend on the state to solve this. The cell phone industry and the Ford Motor Co. will spend whatever it takes in Lansing (and in every other state) to prevent passage of an effective cell phone ban while driving. They have too much money invested in their technology to allow it to be banned statewide, in any state. I expect no good legislation from Lansing on voice calls.

But we could pass effective legislation for Ann Arbor. I urge you to amend the ordinance to remove the exception in 3 A for voice calls.

James C. Walker Ann Arbor