(This article was written in October 2000, it is kept online for use as documentation)
Some small towns have already answered that question by passing total or partial bans. And recently, on October 3, 2000, a whole county took action: in Suffolk County, a region where 1.4 million people live in Long Island, NY, Legislator Jon Cooper proposed and obtained a new bill that prohibits motorists from using hand-held cell phones while driving. However, they can still use their phone in an emergency or with a hands-free device:
Read my
Exclusive Interview with Legislator Jon Cooper
... where you will learn:
Meanwhile, other cities, like Chicago and Boston, are considering similar laws, which makes cell phone service providers worried... but not all of them. Verizon Wireless, a major US cellular service provider, has an open approach, even supporting restrictions on cell-phone use in the state of Illinois, at some conditions:
Learn why, in my
Interview with Jeff Neilson, Executive Director of Verizon
Communications
... where you will learn:
In the background of that story, there are many studies about how cell phone use while driving may increase the risk of traffic accidents and also real life stories of people whose relatives where killed in car crashes involving a cellular phone:
[link url="http://cellphones.about.com/gadgets/cellphones/cs/phoningdriving/index.htm"]Visit my list of links to relevant resources about the cell phone & driving issue[/link]