It should be illegal for people to use cell phones while driving

Contention 1: The original study [1] also says that "Decisions about regulation of such telephones, however, need to take into account the benefits of the technology and the role of individual responsibility." Many drivers with cell phones were able to quickly call emergency services; there are many other unrelated benefits of cell phone usage. According to a large study done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [2], the risks associated with talking on the phone are no worse than those associated with performing any other similar task in the car, such as eating. If cell phone usage were to be banned, it would be necessary to also ban many other similar tasks. In addition, the cost of banning cell phone usage is rather high [3]: "the cost of banning cell phone use while driving is about $700,000 for each quality-adjusted life year saved. That is 30 times more expensive than achieving the same public health benefit with driver airbags, and ten times more expensive than achieving that benefit by keeping the speed limit on interstate highways at 55 instead of 65 MPH." Contention 2: This is nothing but a statistic; it lacks proof. Many crashes may be caused by cell phone usage, but this is outweighed by several factors. For one, there is the economic cost of preventing potentially crucial calls from being made while in the car. Yes, life is more valuable than simple economic costs, but at what point do we draw the line? Would we be willing to bankrupt a nation just to save one individual? No, and this is exactly why the economic cost is important. Two, we must take into consideration the entire population. There are billions of people who ride in cars every day; only 600,000 or so per YEAR get in an accident, and barely half of those even involve any injury. The cost of cell phone usage is rather small. To help balance my opponent's statistics, it is worth noting that someone with a blood alcohol content of 0.1% (only just above the legal limit for operating an automobile [4]) is five times more likely to get in an accident than someone who is talking on the phone. Contention 3: The core of this argument is very similar to the core arguments of #1 and #2, so my arguments can be cross-applied. But to add something extra, I ask, why is this a reason to ban cell phone usage? There are surely more economical ways to reduce the risk of an accident. Education and encouragement are powerful tools that we ought to utilize. Simply making cell phone use illegal is invasive, excessive and unnecessary, not to mention an infringement on personal liberty. Contention 4: No direct source to this fact has been given and I cannot find the original source, so it is difficult to respond to. However, it has been found that banning cell phones would cause a great deal of economic hardship [3]. Contention 5: This is an example of an appeal to authority; it is fallacious [5], and should be disregarded. Contention 6: False. See rebuttal to contention 2. In conclusion, the side effects of cell phone conversation while driving are minor and the costs of banning cell phone use are great. [1] New England Journal of Medicine <http://content.nejm.org...; [2] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration <http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov...; [3] Harvard Center for Risk Analysis <http://www.hsph.harvard.edu...; [4] http://en.wikipedia.org... [5] http://www.nizkor.org...