Driving down Cell Road, why Lawmakers need to be weary of banning cellphones on the road.

The other day, I spent my afternoon at my local Toyota dealership getting a new tire put on. A quite simple task, that should not have taken more than fifteen minutes. However this simple and easy feat, ended up being done at a snails pace, so I spent all afternoon there. Luckily I brought my laptop. I was able to get my work done freely, with an endless supply of free coffee in my hands and CNN playing in the background. The day could not have been that bad. Well, as I was surfing away, reading the latest on the Mark McGwire debacle, I heard from the corner of my ear "Law Makers want to ban the use of Cell Phones in cars." I took a sip of my coffee and paused for a minute, I knew it was only a matter of time before something like this would be passed. I was still thinking about this later in the day when I pulled out my phone to use it's GPS. I stared down at the phone, as it brought up the directions that I needed. Law makers were going to ban the cell phone in the car, I thought again. I stared at my phone hard, now in shock, as the Epiphany hit me. This cannot happen. Now before you attack me, which you are probably thinking about doing at this point, let me ask you, what do you use your cellphone for? The most standard use of a cell phone is used to communicate to a friend or family member. One does this through either a phone call or a text message. These are all standard features that all cell phone providers provide. Now if these features are going to be banned, I could not totally argue with this. Text messaging is now mostly outlawed in the entire United States, though most people would admit, if pressed, that they have sent a text message in some form recently, despite this new ban. Most people will admit that text messaging, plus the occasional phone call does limit the driver's awareness and leads to increased chances of a car accident. Statistics currently say that 1 in 4 car accidents involves a cell phone in some fashion. So this law that congress wants to give us, does make sense on all of these points. However, if you ban the cellphone entirely are you banning something else altogether? At the end of 2009 15% of people reportedly owned a smart phone. Let me say that again, 15% OF PEOPLE OWN A SMART PHONE, not a regular cellphone. Most smartphones have thousands of other qualities that normal cell phones do not have...including music playback and GPS. Most phones are starting to come standard with these devices, however the smart phone has this application built in from start. So if you ban the cellphone in the car are you banning me from listening to my music? Are you banning me from using my GPS? Lawmakers need to think about this before they throw this bill out. What does it say? What are it's details? A BAN ON CELL PHONES IS A BAN ON TECHNOLOGY. Back in the late 90's people were worried about the distraction of theCD player, when it was first introduced, so this controversy is nothing new. This is not to say that the driving has remained the same in the last 10 years. Car's are now equipped with TVs, DVD players, and Video game systems that can easily distract any driver, not to mention the hassle of unwary passengers in any car. This does not include the addition of CD players, GPS systems, and radar systems that can now be found standard in most cars. Also I would be stupid to not mention the Apps, that many manufacturers are now rolling out in their future vehicles. I am not arguing for the Cellphone use in cars or saying it's okay to text while you drive. I have seen up close and personal, how much damage a cell phone and distracted driver can cause. All I am asking for, is for lawmakers take a step back and really think about what they hope to achieve with this bill. Because this bill will not only affect driving, but technology for years to come.