[Mr 5 0]

I respect (and share) that spirit of rugged individualism with jimberg and Ponycar_302 however my response wasn't 'knee-jerk' but rather one that advised defensive driving and awareness of distracted drivers. I stand by it.

A law banning cell phone use by drivers is a bit hard to enforce and I do agree that we have enough laws already - more than enough - thank you. Good point.

Of course using that once proud attribute of American culture we used to call Common Sense should make excessive and/or unnecessary cell phone use rare but it appears our old friend Common Sense seems to have abandoned us these days. I miss him.

Fortunately the posts on this particular thread indicate that at least some Mustangers understand that - law or no law - cell phone yakking while driving a 3000 + pound vehicle at 60 mph or more may not be a wise or necessary addition to your driving responsibilities. That's reassuring and I share the sentiment.

I've used a cell phone in the car: for about 30 seconds. Just enough to say "I'll call you back" or something similar. Like a gun or a car; it's not the inanimate object that's the problem, it's how it's used - or misused.

Unfortunately, cell phones are misused by most drivers. It's not about other drivers being 'bothered' by them, it's the inherent danger a very distracted driver poses to others on the road.

I'll grant you that eating, applying make-up or playing a system at 150 decibles while driving is equally as dangerous but the ubiquitous cellphone is more easily targeted and with the tendency to demonize what is readily apparent (automobile cell phone talkers are quite visible and like it that way) the urge to make the use of cell phones while driving, illegal, is very tempting for politicians, and that temptation usually wins the battle over any politician's instinct to just leave people alone.

Tough call but I prefer my old friend Common Sense to prevail when possible. Sadly, old man Common Sense is too often totally absent in too many folks these days. Sad.