By Melissa Boyd 
The world is changing, or at least Delaware is. No more talking on the cell phone, or texting, while driving! A lot of people think this is great because it makes sense – talking on the phone and texting do distract the driver because both hands are not on the wheel.
For Christmas, my parents got me one of those wireless Bluetooth gadgets – but it doesn’t go in my ear. Yeah, I’ve tried the ear one, and I hate it. No, this one goes on the visor of my car and it’s a speaker phone. It’s not really good for privacy, because the whole car can hear the conversation, but it’s supposed to be better driving, obviously, than holding the cell phone. I can understand this.
But there are two things that bother me about this new law. One, talking on the phone, no matter if the phone is being held or not, is still a distraction. Yes, people drive with passengers, but a passenger can see the road and be quiet if the driver needs to concentrate, while the person on the other end of the phone can’t see the road, and continues to talk.
Two, the law is built on the grounds of having both hands of the driver on the wheel at all times while maneuvering the vehicle. What’s funny about this, to me, is that smoking while driving is still legal in Delaware, and so is changing the radio station. People drive with their hands out the window or with a dog on their lap. I get the idea of the law, but I think the idealism is a little strong.
And don’t get me wrong: I love my speakerphone. It makes everything so much easier, and I’m a little lazy, so not having to hold the phone makes it more appealing to me. But, I think that if the state of Delaware wants to make driving safer, then they need to teach better driving courses, or have drivers’ education teachers that actually teach, with exams that are difficult to pass.
Driving is a dangerous activity, and yes, talking on the phone makes it even more dangerous, as does texting – but so does smoking, changing the radio, sitting with the dog, applying makeup, operating a handheld GPS, reading directions off of a print out and having passengers. The only way to make driving a less dangerous activity is to teach people how to drive safely – not target a specific bad habit, when there are hundreds of other bad habits, too.
