The little gadgets have been accused of threatening aircraft safety, causing car wrecks, and contributing to the collapse of a civil society. Even sober citizens are beginning to think that a little cell-ibacy might improve everyone's safety and sanity, and some local governments and agencies are beginning to step in. In July the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began warning drivers that it's risky to use wireless phones and other electronic devices while driving. Just how risky isn't clear. A 1997 report in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that talking on a cellphone could quadruple a driver's risk of a collision.
Some researchers think even hands-free phones are hazardous distractions.
And the wireless industry argues that phones have a safety benefit, allowing drivers to report emergencies. There are clearer data supporting the Federal Aviation Administration's ban of phones and other electronic devices on planes. At a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing last July, the agency presented a safety database showing that wireless phones and other gadgets were to blame for 52 of the 69,000 events recorded. But we know that possibility exists so we're not going to take any risks. As a result, other people's cellphones are one annoyance air travelers are spared these days.