"If we can get any bill out this year, that's progress," said Sen. Mike Lenett, a Montgomery County Democrat sponsoring the bill. "It will help in terms of raising public awareness and education as to the dangerous nature of driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone."
But some lawmakers balked at the proposed ban.
"It's legislating common sense," said Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican who represents Cecil and Harford counties. "People should be responsible adults and know how to behave and act reasonably. Next we're going to be telling people what radio station they can listen to and how loud they can listen to it."
Sen. Alex X. Mooney, a Frederick County Republican, pointed to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety that found other distractions, such as other passengers in the car, adjusting a car's stereo system and eating or drinking were factors in car crashes more often than using a cell phone.
Driver distraction contributes to as many as half of car accidents, said Fairley Mahlum, a spokeswoman for the AAA Foundation. She said drivers talking with a hands-free device are still distracted by the conversation, and they would still have to use their hands to dial or pick up a call.
"There is the misconception that a hands-free device makes you safe and you can talk away, whereas the behavior has to be eliminated altogether," she said.
No state has implemented a blanket ban on the use of wireless devices for all drivers.
Up the highway from the State House on Baltimore's busy Russell Street, dozens of drivers in the span of a half-hour maneuvered through traffic with one hand on the steering wheel and the other gripping a cell phone.
But with restrictions already in place in nearby states, including New York, some drivers said they're accustomed to talking hands-free.
Karen Brandli, who spends much of her time in the Washington and Baltimore areas for her job selling medical devices, said it has gotten "too dangerous" to drive in D.C. without her hands-free device because police monitor drivers. She said she clips a Bluetooth headset to her ear every time she steps into her sport utility vehicle.
"Your hands are supposed to be on the wheel," she said. "I have girlfriends in New York who I talk to on the phone, and they're always saying, `Hold on, a cop is coming by.'"
Ashraf Elfeky, a taxi driver with the Checkers Cab Association in Baltimore, said his employer forbids using hand-held cell phones while driving and slaps drivers with a $50 fine if they are caught doing so. He agrees with the policy that forces him to pull over to talk on his cell phone, even though he contends with other distractions, such as dispatcher orders via a small computer screen and two-way radio.
As a frequent observer of on-the-road behavior, he said he's amazed by how poorly people drive when they are engrossed in a phone conversation.
"The worst are the lovebirds," he said.
laura.smitherman@baltsun.com nick.madigan@baltsun.com
