In a list of improvements that they want to see in the coming year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has included a complete ban on hands-free cell phone devices while driving. According to Christopher Hart, the chairman of the NTSB, “Current laws that ban handheld, but not hands-free, use can foster a belief that hands-free devices are safely used while driving.” A growing body of people, both lawmakers and the public, are coming to agree that any distraction from a phone poses a significant threat while driving, even if the driver doesn’t have to use his or her hands to do anything while using the phone. For this reason, 20 states and Washington D.C. have laws barring bus drivers from using their phones, and 37 states and D.C. have laws barring new drivers from using them. Complete bans on cell phone use while driving are being considered this year in Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Iowa, but no decisions have been reached yet.
Gary Massey, Jr., is a well-known courtroom advocate practicing law in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Gary is a native of Tennessee who began practicing law in 1998. He graduated from Cumberland School of Law where he was ranked in the top 3% of his class and was an editor of the Cumberland Law Review.
