One of many distractions.

Byline: The Register-Guard

As the bumper sticker says, "Hang up and drive." That's one of the more polite messages directed toward people who talk on their mobile telephones while behind the wheel of their cars - reflecting rising public sentiment that using a cell phone while driving is at best an annoyance, and at worst a traffic hazard. Next thing you know, driving while phoning will be against the law.

In fact, New York state already has a law against using a telephone in a motor vehicle, unless it's equipped with a hands-free device. Similar laws have been considered in 22 other states. Proposals for cell-phone bans are certain to get a push from a study by Harvard University's Center for Risk Analysis, which estimates that wireless phones contribute to 2,600 traffic fatalities each year.

But hold the phone. The center's estimate is just that - no one has measured the extent to which cell phones affect people's ability to drive. What's more, the center had previously estimated that the benefits of mobile phone use, such as allowing motorists to obtain emergency help more quickly, outweighed the negative effects on traffic safety. Only recently, with the number of mobile phones in use passing the 128 million mark in the United States, have the risks exceeded the benefits, the center says.

Assuming the center's estimates are on target, the fact that public benefits to mobile phone use have been identified is notable. A similar study of other activities in which many drivers routinely engage - fiddling with the radio, applying makeup, fumbling with a book of matches, eating a taco - might uncover similar risks with far fewer offsetting benefits.

Indeed, the focus on cell phones diverts attention from the real problem: Too many drivers allow themselves to be distracted. Even a momentary lapse of attention can get someone killed. It doesn't matter whether the distraction comes from children arguing in the back seat, a dog sticking its head out the window or a cell phone - the result can be just as deadly.

Cell phone users should do all they can to protect their own and others' safety. Installing hands-free equipment or pulling over to the side of the road are prudent precautions. And it wouldn't hurt for people to realize that few phone calls are so urgent that they must be placed or answered while the motor is running.

But anti-cell phone laws seem misdirected. Decades before mobile phones became common, the nation's highways were crowded with truckers who communicated via citizens' band radio - and the only safety complaints came as a result of truckers' exchanging tips on how to avoid speed traps or weigh stations. The difference is that truckers know they must keep their eyes on the road and their minds on their driving. If more car drivers would do the same, the hazards of cell phone use would decline.