Land of the Free

So I saw this mentioned on HLN this morning

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/13/ntsb-wants-to-ban-mobile-phone-use-in-cars-across-the-country/

While I would welcome the opportunity to drive on roads not infested with texting, internet surfing "commuters", if taken by their word this would also preclude use of GPS systems, MP3 Players etc. While GPS *can* be a distraction, it can ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giflso help you avoid distraction since you won't have to be consulting your printed or hand written directions and watching closely for road signs.

In the near future a "hand held" cell phone ban is going to take effect for commercial vehicle drivers, requiring us to use a bluetooth or other hands-free system. That seems like a far more logical route to take as far as keeping ones eyes on the road, and hands available to keep control of the vehicle.

While the traffic fatalities related to "distracted driving" are clearly unacceptable, it seems like there should be a more logical way to correct this situation. I will be interested to see what the outcome is as this moves forward.