...and everybody you know hates them too. But like somebody said about Reagan, everybody you don't know loves them.

It's not so easy or clear cut - Saletan also pointed out the advantages of new communication technologies. However, the problem occurs when users are absent from their current surroundings, in other words, when they're not paying attention to the immediate world but instead to a virtual world. When you drive, it's obviously important to be aware of the real world. It's not the phone, it's how it's used. Nuff said.

The trouble with any outright ban is that it is going to be ignored -- if I'm 30 miles from the nearest town on an Interstate in Iowa and my mother calls, I'm answering the phone, and I'm not pulling over to do it. If I'm stuck in gridlock moving 20 miles an hour and my boss calls, I'm answering the phone. They'll probably end up banning conversation on handsets, but if conversation on hands-free devices were dangerous, airline pilots (and private pilots) couldn't do it, and they are all required to -- in fact, some private pilots must communicate using hand-held microphones. I've done this, and if I ever own my own plane, it will be equipped with a mounted 'phone and a push-to-talk button on the controls, but this is just as distracting as talking on the phone via a bluetooth device.

There's a world of difference between having a conversation on a cell phone in a car and pilots communicating with ground control personnel. A cell phone conversation in a car has nothing to do with the operation of the vehicle and detracts from it. Pilots have to communicate with the ground to be able to fly the plane safely - which runway, which direction, what's the traffic pattern etc. In commercial aircraft any distraction is ameliorated by having a crew of 2 or more.

Arschbombe: It's still "multitasking," and frankly, a lot of what passes between private pilot's is chitchat in uncontrolled airspace ("Did you see those gals skinny dipping over at that rock quarry?") -- and most of that is between and among pilots of Cessnas and Pipers with no crews at all. These vehicles operate at much higher speeds than cars and do so in a three-dimensional environment, but their "drivers" are apparently capable of multitasking at a much safer rate than car drivers, at least according to these studies. It makes one go "hmmmm."

trapdoor, you are kidding yourself. pilots train for thousands of hours in every aspect of aviation before getting their licenses. yes they are multitasking; they are also trained to be highly sensitized to their flying environment. nor are they contending with hundreds of others planes in their immediate airspace either, cuz, guess what... there arent nearly as many planes in the air as there are cars on the ground.

any schmuck who turns 16 in most states and can pass a driver's test will have a license to drive. any schmuck on the phone in his car, "multitasking, " is likely having a conversation that has nothing to do with where the car is going and how it's being operated.

who do you honestly think is more likely to kill you in your life time? a "multitasking" pilot talking to ground control? or an idiot driver on his cell? hrmmm? scoff all you want... i'll see you at the morgue soon enough...

Chinpudding: It only takes about 40 hours to qualify for the full private pilot's license. It takes less for the light sport license and recreational pilot's license. While few private pilot's complete their licenses in the minimum 40 hour requirement, it seldom takes more than 100 hours to do so (I'll qualify myself sometime in 2009, with only about 65 hours, for the full private pilot's license). With that license you can fly, carry passengers, fly at night, ectera. You can also use the radio to talk about your flight, the spray paint on the local water tower, and the girls in the rock quarry.

The only part of your argument that holds water is the one about traffic, and even it isn't true in a busy TCA.

I know what the rest mean but what condition is ectera?

But seriously, I think there is an important thing to note about pilots vs. drivers. Even with 40 hours they are trained to be aware of the environment and the average yahoo isn't going out to get a pilots license. The effect of an error is much more catastrophic.

Many people aren't able to multitask, thus you get the problems on the road. I know that it's totally unreasonable, but one solution would be a license to talk and drive if you've proven mentally capable of handling it. Or better yet, only give licenses to the people who can... the sheer reduction in traffic would make my commute (not on phone at all) much easier.

Mrt: Not "etc." -- TCA stands for "Traffic Controlled Airspace." Sorry, lapsed into pilot speak.

Hey mr trapdoor

how often do these private pilots fly 30 behind a bunch of other planes who are 30 feet apart?.also how many bicyclists and pedestrian jay walkers do you encounter up there?how exactly do traffic lights work in the sky? How many times have you been cut off by another plane changing lanes erratically?

Maybe that's the trick -- make it much, much harder to get a drivers license, and much harder to keep a driver's license. Then we probably wouldn't need to spend as much time identifying all the things that interfere with people's driving and how to fix them.

mygyver: The answer to the first part of your question is "essentially never" but I might add that "how often do car drivers drive legally at 150 mph? How many ultralight planes that only fly 40 mph do drivers on the highway encounter. Believe it or not, there are traffic intersections in the sky, they are merely not marked with lights.

I'm a student pilot with fewer than 60 hours. I've only been cut off in the pattern twice, but it was a lot scarier than being cut off on the highway.