This just in: the Massachusetts house has voted to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, for both talking and texting. As is the case in other states with bans in place, the use of headsets or other hands-free devices remains OK. You can see an article on this matter (which was printed before the vote) here.

I think it's pretty clear that, for most, if not all but those few of us with brains naturally wired for real-time multitasking (I am not, BTW, one of those), doing essentially anything else while operating a motor vehicle is a bad idea. In fact, there is now a ton of great academic research on this, mostly courtesy of Dr. David Strayer and his team at the Applied Cognition Laboratory at the University of Utah. This, of course is in addition to mountains of anecdotal evidence that talking (and most certainly texting - what kind of moron texts while driving?) and driving just don't mix. Over the holidays, there was a story in the Boston Globe about exactly what happens when two technologies collide. No pun intended - we're talking about great tragedy that in this case results from really effective marketing.

Yes, you read that correctly - marketing is making us believe that we have super-human powers. Even I have contributed to this problem over the years; I'm sure I couldn't count the number of times I've used the phrase "anytime/anywhere" to describe the power, utility, and, yes, romance of wireless communications. And while the cellular operators do indeed have programs in place to, as Dirty Harry reminded us lo those many years ago, that we've got to know our limitations, such marketing is usually in well-hidden fine print while the operators attempt any legitimate means to make sure that minutes of use and ARPU both continue to climb. It's all about bucks.

Well, gee, I hate to be a wet blanket here, and while I'm never going to found at a rally shouting "people before profit", I am going to take a stand for public safety above just about everything else, including more minutes of use where same might put someone's life and limb at risk. Talking on the phone while driving, handheld or not, is dangerous. Texting or accessing the Web while driving is positively insane. What would possess someone to do so? Sorry, scratch that. We're a species that often seems to ignore common sense, prudence, and responsibility. It's all about convenience, expedience, doin' whatever matters at the moment, everyone else be damned. Marketing has convinced us that this is positively a birthright. But our first responsibility should be and must be to each other. Putting another's well-being or, God forbid, life in danger for the sake of momentary convenience is completely, totally, unacceptable.

I'm going to surprise you here, though, by not advocating a ban or cell phones while driving, nor mandating the use of hands-free devices. My suggestion is that anyone involved in a motor vehicle incident (note I do not use "accident" here, as that word has come to be used as yet another excuse to avoid responsibility) be immediately declared to be at fault if operating a wireless communications device at the time of the incident, with associated very severe penalties. Let me throw a mandatory 30 days in jail and loss of driving privileges for five years out there for starters. This is no different from the case of colliding with another car from the rear - guilt and responsibility are implied. A severe penalty would get everyone's attention quickly, and making examples of a few could go a long way to improving safety for all of us.

Driving demands our full attention; anyone who cannot devote that to their fellow man should not be behind the wheel at all. And while I am not in favor of an outright ban on talking while driving (I think this can be done safely on the highway in some circumstances, for example), don't be surprised if tragedies like the one I noted above motivate lawmakers to get tougher on those who don't know, or fail to acknowledge, their own limitations.