The past few days they have been talking about banning cell phones while driving in the legislator, ironically at the same time I was speaking with some people down in California about that exact thing. In California it is already banned and fines are handed out if you are caught holding your cell phone while driving. So we were discussing a new feature in Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles called Sync. It is powered by Microsoft and is a hands free solution to well, almost everything, but the point is not about what it can do. The point more or less is there are solutions if cell phone use is banned.

I can see both sides but I have to say I lean more on the side of banning it, especially in Yellowknife. Before you jump on my back just hear me out and then you can definitely have your say in the comment section. Over the last 2 weeks alone I have encountered 2 situations of driver while on the cell phone. The first, I just could not believe. I was on my way home on a Friday afternoon down Franklin just passing the Aven Manor when a driver came up beside me going the same direction. When I glanced over, I couldn’t believe what I saw, this person was steering with what I assume to be their leg because it definitely wasn’t there hands. Both their hands were occupied with “other” things. One hand holding a cell phone and the other a cigarette. The other incident was with a commercial van driver nearly cutting into my truck because they were, you guessed it, not paying attention while on their cell phone.

There are many solutions nowadays for hand free cell phone use, whether it is built in your vehicle or just a bluetooth headset. I guess another question would be determining if the problem is using your hands while on the phone or just being on the phone with someone.

What are your thoughts on this topic? For or against?