A new ban on cell-phones/driving

SEATTLE — Driving with one hand on the wheel and the other on a cell phone is no longer an option for Washington state drivers.

On Tuesday, they join more than 28 million others nationwide who have to hang up their cell phones or use hands-free devices. Violators can face a $124 ticket.

"We'll continue to see more legislation as more devices go in a car," said Matt Sundeen, who has monitored cell phone laws for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "A lot of people agree these types of devices are distracting, but the real question is — are they so distracting they need some type of restriction?"

California and Washington are just the latest states to enact laws that prohibit the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. Both state permit hands-free devices.

This past year, 22 state legislatures considered similar laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A handful of states — like New York and New Jersey — already have laws in place. Lawmakers in Louisiana recently sent a bill to the governor's desk.

But traffic-safety advocates say the new laws will have little impact.

"Laws like Washington's probably will have a big effect on making people feel good about passing a law but zero effect on highway safety," said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

However, the new laws could have a big effect on businesses that sell headsets and related projects.

In an investors report issued last week, analysts at Morgan Keegan said they expect a revenue increase of at least $12 million in sales from California and Washington from June into August for Plantronics Inc., a California-based headset manufacturer.

A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that drivers using cell phones are four times more likely to be in an accident. That study suggested that limiting cell phone usage to hands-free devices doesn't have much of an effect.

It's the talking that distracts people, traffic-safety advocates say.

"If you continue to allow hands-free phoning, you haven't addressed the safety problem," Rader said.

In 2007, there were more than 141,000 collisions in Washington state, and reports on 158 of them listed "operating" a hand-held device — such as a cell phone or an MP3 player — as a contributing factor, according to the state patrol.