I’ve seen a lot of unsafe driving in my life, but almost none of it had to do with use of phones. I’ve seen people swerve out of lanes while they were eating, putting on makeup, reading books, looking at maps and even kissing. I’ve seen people obviously distracted because of looking at billboards, road signs, scenery and traffic accidents. We’ve all seen those things. But for some reason, some so-called safety experts have become fixated on banning the use of phones by drivers.
Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board urged all states to make it illegal to use a phone in any way while driving. The NTSB even said the use of earbuds or wireless headsets should be banned. As far as I can tell, nobody has called for a ban on eating while driving, putting on makeup while driving or reading newspapers and maps while driving.
And why is the agency calling for this ban? It says that distracted driving “contributed” to an “estimated” 3,092 deaths last year — and that “some of it” was due to cellphone use. There are a couple of really basic problems with this logic. First, isn’t it interesting that an estimated number is given in such an exact way, giving the illusion of precision? It would be easier to say, “This is what we’re guessing,” but that wouldn’t support their position, so they give you an number to make it appear that the experts know these things.

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