No question about it, cell phones can be a deadly distraction to drivers. Salt Lake City would be perfectly justified in passing an ordinance making it a crime to drive while on the phone, as Mayor Rocky Anderson wants to propose.

But a city-by-city approach to this growing problem is an inefficient answer. Cell phones, and all other deadly distractions, from eating to applying makeup, need to be addressed in a state law. Otherwise, drivers would have little idea where cell phones are allowed and where they are not. As much as mayors and city council members hate to hear it, the Wasatch Front is a virtually seamless patchwork of communities. Drivers generally don't know when they cross boundaries.

Politicians didn't need the recent tragic death of a teen driver, whose car was hit by another car driven by a teenager on the phone, to know that phones are distracting. Researchers at the University of Utah found last year that drivers with cell phones are at least as dangerous as drivers who have been drinking alcohol.

That study, published in the journal "Human Factors," placed 40 participants in driving simulators, once while intoxicated and a second time while sober but talking on the phone. A control group did the same test without any distractions. Cell phone drivers drove slowly, did not brake quickly and followed too closely to drivers ahead of them. They acted as though they were drunk.

The problem, of course, is that cell phone driving is quickly becoming a part of daily life for too many Americans, especially young people whose driving skills are rough to begin with. People also worry they will miss an important call, possibly not being informed of an emergency, if they are unable to drive and talk.

Those concerns pale in the face of the carnage being caused by distracted drivers. Is it really such a hardship to pull to the side of the road to answer a call? Is it so tough to wait awhile to listen to a message left on voice mail?

The answers to these questions should be obvious. So should be the answer as to how to remove this menace from Utah's roads. A state law, not scattered city ordinances, would be most effective.