>It is unacceptable to divide your attention when hurtling down the road in a ton and a half of steel.
That's not an answer.
Of course people should pay attention while driving. But the question is: what should the law be? Should looking at paper maps while driving be illegal? Changing the radio station? Eating?
In the late '80s a driver killed 4 bicyclists on two-land highway outside of Silicon Valley (CA-152) when she bent down while driving to retrieve a fallen cassette tape. Should we ban music systems in cars?
The problem with taking banning "distractions" to its logical conclusion is that we'd end up with an absurd law that the people would never accept. The law, and driving culture, has always accepted some level of distraction. If that needs to change, then we need to decide how, and the advocates for any particular position need to advocate for their position, including addressing their position's logical inconsistencies.
