New York first enacted such a ban in 2001. New Jersey's and Washington, D.C.,'s laws both took effect in July. Approximately 25 American cities have also done so, along with the Army base at Fort Campbell, Ky. Maine and New Jersey prohibit drivers under 21 with a learner's permit from driving while phoning.

Besides state laws, companies are beginning to ask their employees to stop phoning and driving, and plaintiffs are collecting multimillion dollar awards for wrongful death caused by cell phone-wielding drivers.

Eide used to call constituents from her car until she missed a stop sign while talking on the phone. "I taught myself. It scared me." Now, she turns off her phone while driving.

Other lawmakers, however, fear restricting cell phones in cars may hamper the development of new technological devices for cars that may be beneficial. Called telematics, such devices include new generations of embedded, voice-activated phones, in-dash navigational systems and more.

And many legislators like to phone while driving, and know how popular it is.

A constituent who called after nearly getting sideswiped twice on one trip by drivers on cell phones got Eide's legislative wheels turning.

"I don't want to outlaw them. I just want to have it so they're hands free -- so you can turn, you can shift, you can signal," said Eide, whose young adult and teen children are trained not to call and drive.

Her bill, most recently titled SB5487, makes exceptions for emergency calls, to summon medical help, or report accidents and illegal activity. It exempts anyone operating an authorized emergency vehicle.

She also tried to get state collision reports changed to track cell phone involvement in crashes, but that hasn't happened yet either.

"If people would just stop and realize what they're doing, they would be mortified," she said, recalling the time she saw a state trooper who was on the phone driving erratically.

Accident spoke volumes

		Scott Eklund / P-I
	Sen. Tracy Eide, D-Auburn, used to call constituents while driving until she missed a stop sign. Now she turns off her phone as soon as she gets in her car.

"Doesn't that just say it all?" Eide says.

Since introducing the bill in 1998, Eide has heard from people who support it, such as Cheryl Miller of Tacoma, who was almost broadsided by someone on a cell phone.

That didn't make Miller, 56, drive defensively. "It increased my road rage exponentially," she said. "It made me drive more aggressively. It was just sheer anger, and all kinds of expletives for these idiots out here on the roads."

Miller owns a cell phone and appreciates calls from her husband and daughters on the road, saying they'll be late or their plans have changed. So she feels some ambivalence, but wants more emphasis on responsible behavior.

The former chair of the Highways & Transportation committee, Sen. Jim Horn, R-Mercer Island, opposed Eide's bill and declined to grant it a hearing last session.

Horn believes many people can phone and drive safely.

"I do it quite frequently. I have a cell phone that's voice activated. I think the most inattention is when you're trying to punch in a number," said Horn, who mostly holds his phone when driving.

"Would anybody say that it's impossible to drive responsibly while talking on a cell phone?" he asked, adding that people who do it often are usually better at it. "I think most people tend to act responsibly on this thing. I don't think you have to regulate and define under what conditions you can and can't do it."

But Horn just lost his bid for re-election and the Senate balance tipped from Republican to Democratic control, so Eide may have better luck next session.

Change is coming

It took five years for Ortiz to make it happen, facing initial opposition from law enforcement and the wireless lobby.

"When they make that comment -- about we need more data -- I fought back and said, 'Would you like to see your son or daughter in that data?' " he said.

The catalyst for the bill was an erratic driver on a cell phone in his district. "I witnessed a person who was driving and crossing both sides of the road. Then she hit a pole. And I stopped to help her," he said.

Though New York is still crunching the numbers, Ortiz says his law has reduced crashes attributable to cell phones. "This legislation is all about saving lives," he said.

From December 2001 through May 2004, New York issued more than 286,000 of the $100 citations for driving with a hand-held cell phone.

Ortiz said he'll work to strengthen his bill, aiming for a complete ban except for voice-activated phones. He hopes the law can be amended in the future to add other distractions, including DVD players, Web surfing, text messaging and more.

He sees a day when the federal government intervenes, perhaps tying the release of highway funds to states' banning the practice.

"I'm probably going to be 50 or 60 years old, but I'll look back and say I had a vision," said Ortiz, who is 44.

Ortiz is not the only one who thinks the handwriting is on the pavement. Leading telecom industry analyst The Yankee Group wrote, "It is inevitable that wireless usage in automobiles will be further regulated," in a September 2003 research note. "Any opposition by wireless carriers or device manufacturers will work against them in the future."

The paper concludes the best scenario for industry is hands-free laws, which increase the sale of hands-free equipment. The worst outcome is a total ban, "which would have a significant negative effect on revenue for wireless carriers and device manufacturers."

For The Partnership for Safe Driving, a grass-roots group advocating better driving, even a complete ban isn't enough. The group, which has few allies in this crusade, wants the practice to be treated similarly to drunken driving violations, with tougher penalties for those who cause accidents while phoning, said its volunteer director, Lisa Sheikh.

She says drivers' cell phone records should be pulled after a crash to determine if using a phone was a factor, just as authorities test suspected drunken drivers' blood or breath.

"We also believe this behavior should be uninsurable. If you're involved in a crash and were talking on your cell phone, you should pay for the crash," Sheikh said. "This is not something a private company should be underwriting."

Company policies

Coming soon to a corporation near you: a company ban on driving with cell phones?

In the name of safety -- the leading cause of worker death last year was auto accidents -- companies are writing policies about cell phones and driving. General Motors, with more than 200,000 employees, asks workers to use hands-free headsets and avoid phoning in heavy traffic.

Other companies have banned their workers from talking on cell phones in moving cars. (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer does not have a policy on the issue.)

Oil giant ExxonMobil's new policy restricts its 88,000 employees from phoning and driving.

"When you look at the data on a piece of paper, it's very compelling," said Lauren Kerr, a spokeswoman at the company's Irving, Texas, headquarters. "We don't have a way of monitoring it. But, if an employee got into an auto accident on company time, we would check the phone records."

They know it's a challenge for some, including their mobile sales force.

"Everybody feels that they should be able to reach you instantly," Kerr said. "I think we've all become used to picking up that phone no matter what. It's taking some learning to know it's OK to not pick up the phone."

BP, the oil and natural gas conglomerate, also prohibits its 100,000 employees and contractors, including 40,000 in the United States, from phoning while driving.

They don't know of such accidents caused by their workers, but a few months ago a driver on a cell phone rear-ended a BP tanker, which was unoccupied at the time. The driver, also speeding and intoxicated, was killed, said BP spokesman Dan Cummings.

"While there may be an inconvenience from a business standpoint, the long-term payoff is that you're providing a safe place for your employees," said Cummings, who's stopped listening to conference calls while driving since the new rule took effect.

Both companies say they hope the policy influences behavior off-the-clock as well.

It's anyone's guess how many local companies have crafted policies on phoning while driving. Although local human resources expert Robert Braun, of Braun Consulting Group, won't discuss specific clients, he says, "I know of employers in Western Washington who have instructed their employees to stop their car if they're going to be on the phone."

Government agencies are starting to make similar changes. On Nov. 1, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries prohibited its 2,700 statewide employees from using "electronic equipment and cell phones while driving on official state business."

Other agencies, such as the Thurston County Public Health & Social Services Department, have created similar policies.

So far, there hasn't been a successful lawsuit lobbed at the wireless carriers for a subscriber's negligence in an accident, though one Indiana plaintiff tried.

But plaintiffs have won against companies whose workers cause accidents while driving and phoning. Companies can be liable if their employees do something negligent in the course and scope of their employment.

When a Smith Barney investment broker killed a motorcyclist while making a business call in his own car, on his personal phone, on a weekend, the company paid $500,000 to settle the suit out of court.

Last month in Virginia, a law firm was sued for $30 million because a former attorney was allegedly making a work call on her cell phone when she swerved off the road and killed a 15-year-old girl in 2000. Initially, she said she thought she hit a deer and kept driving.

The law firm settled with the family for an undisclosed amount. The attorney, who had previously pleaded guilty to a felony and finished a one-year work release program, was ordered to pay $2 million to the victim's family.

In Florida, a jury awarded a plaintiff nearly $21 million against a lumber company, whose employee was making a sales call on his cell phone when he hit a car, severely injuring a passenger. The company settled the case for more than $16 million.

Government can get stuck with the bill too. In a 1996 case, a Hawaii state employee was allegedly phoning and driving when she struck a New Jersey man, causing severe brain damage. The state agreed to pay $1.5 million to the victim.

In these cases, usually the defendant and the company are sued simultaneously.

So far, insurance companies aren't treating cell phone crashes any differently from other collisions, said Karl Newman, head of the Washington Insurance Council.

But the Allstate Insurance Co. is gently nudging drivers with ads that say: "Multitasking is great, except when you're driving. Answer the cell phone, referee the kids in the back seat, drink your coffee. We all do it, but Allstate knows if you do it a little less, you're less likely to have an accident or get a ticket. ..."

Cell phones in cars will continue to be in the cross hairs of public debate, while questions linger about how much risk is too much and the number of people phoning and driving climbs. But here and most other places, unless the laws change, it's up to you.

SAFETY CAMPAIGNS

he federal government hasn't created a safety campaign or PSAs about phoning while driving. Neither has Washington state. But the wireless industry, emphasizing education, not legislation, says it's been doing a lot to remind its customers to phone and drive safely.

For the past four years, they've run PSAs on cable TV and radio, put millions of fliers in customers' bills, added safety displays to stores and created brochures such as "Safety: your most important call."

Some wireless companies also send free kits on safe driving and phoning to high school driver's ed programs around the country, including Seattle Public Schools.

The Cellular Telephone & Internet Association, an umbrella group, won't say how much it has spent on the combined efforts, but believes it's making a difference.

"It has to be up to the driver to determine when is a good time and a bad time to make a call," said Erin McGee, spokeswoman for CTIA.

"We can't be in their car to remind them, 'You're in traffic, you're in bad weather; now is not a good time to make a call.'"

DRIVE SAFELY

The wireless industry says individuals must decide when and how it's safe to make calls while driving. Here are their tips for using a phone safely while driving.

• Get to know your phone and its features, such as speed dial and redial.
• When available, use a hands-free device.
• Position your phone within easy reach.
• Let the person with whom you are speaking know you are driving; if necessary, suspend the call in heavy traffic or hazardous weather conditions.
• Do not take notes or look up phone numbers while driving.
• Dial sensibly and assess the traffic; if possible, place calls when you are not moving or before pulling into traffic.
• Do not engage in stressful or emotional conversations that may divert your attention from the road.
• Dial 911 to report serious emergencies (calls are free from your wireless phone)
• Use your phone to help others in emergencies.
• Call roadside assistance or a special non-emergency wireless number when necessary.