NTSB Recommends Cell Phone Ban

I have to agree. This goes beyond a phone conversation, and can include conversation with other people in the same vehicle. (Notice I did not specify CMVs). Stereos, and CBs also pose some degree of distraction. You've heard at sometime the expression used Your undivided attention, well anytime there is some other sensory input added, it takes away from that undivided attention to your driving.

Now with that said, what people need to do is be able to govern themselves. They need to be able to unconsciously keep those other distractions as secondary, meaning that if a phone conversation becomes harder to hear, you don't concentrate on trying to hear it better, especially if you're in heavy traffic. If things get busy on the road, then stop talking long enough to make sure you're not missing any important danger signs around you, like the cars ahead suddenly jamming on the brakes.

I use the Blue Parrot 250, and there's been times while talking, in heavier traffic, I would stop talking. The person I'm talking to would of course say "Are you still there? " , I'd reply, "Yep, hold on a minute", or I'll call back later.

I'm not a proponent of having the government tell us what we need to do, and we wouldn't have them doing this, if we all could govern ourselves. Aside from that, since we all can not, we provide the government an open door, a way to squeeze more control, and more money from us.