Beware of the cell ban

I was in the car on my way to — I forget, but it must been somewhere important — when my iPhone started to trill. I tried to ignore it, and it was agony. I’m from the Pavlovian school of communications: If a phone rings, I must answer it. But this time, I let it vibrate across the passenger seat until it fell lemming-like onto the floor and safely out of reach. I considered the whole harrowing incident as practice for when Ontario brings in the inevitable no-talking-on-a-mobile-while-driving law.

Like you, I’ve been cut off or nearly hit by chatty cell morons and I’ve seen all the stats about how talking and driving dangerously dilutes concentration, so I understand why so many jurisdictions are banning the use of hand-held cellphones while behind the wheel.

Black and white issue, right? Stop people from talking on their cellphones behind the wheel and started counting the lives saved. 

Well, not quite. What about all the musical distractions that we face in the cockpit these days?  Some of them can be every bit as deadly as talking on a handset. 

Scanning through radio stations diverts attention from the road.  Changing CDs at 100 km/h isn’t smart. RDS readouts — the information some radio stations imperfectly scroll across the display of suitably equipped radios — can pull eyes in the wrong direction. 

Then there’s the growing popularity of iPod interfaces with car audio systems. Some involve running a cable from the headphone jack to an aux input somewhere on the dashboard or a fancy connection that integrates an iPod into the factory radio in the dash. Either way, you’re going to fiddle with your iPod’s playlists when you really should be worrying about keeping it between the ditches.

Meanwhile, many new car audio systems incorporate large hard drives with high-tech displays, essentially turning the dashboard into one big iPod.

And it’s only going to get worse as more manufacturers figure out ways to put Wi-Fi connectivity in cars.  Audi and Chrysler already do. Imagine being in traffic with a dude who insists on surfing the Internet on the way to work. 

Cracking down on cellphone users behind the wheel is a smart and politically popular idea. But could be a slippery slope if everything beyond this is taken into consideration. 

Meanwhile, don’t get BMW owners started on their iDrive systems.

– The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on stations across Canada. Read more at www.exploremusic.com and www.ongoinghistory.com