Cell-phone driving ban urged

By Tom Watkins
CNN
(CNN) - The National Safety Council called Monday for a nationwide ban on cell-phone use, a prohibition opposed by the industry.

"Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is extremely dangerous and puts drivers at a four times greater risk of a crash," said Janet Froetscher, the council's president and CEO, in a news release, referring to a 1997 New England Journal of Medicine examination of hospital records.

"Driving drunk is also dangerous and against the law. When our friends have been drinking, we take the car keys away. It's time to take the cell phone away," Froetscher said.

CTIA-The Wireless Association advocates education over legislation in reducing road accidents. "Laws aimed just at wireless use create a false sense of security with regard to the issue of distracted driving," the agency said in a posting on its Web site.