Many people can't resist giving voice on the phone while driving. But the voice of the people says that, for safety's sake, they should.

Some 80 percent of the people who answered a Salt Lake Tribune poll said they would support a law that restricts cell-phone use while driving. Only 15 percent said they would oppose such legislation, and 5 percent were undecided.

Not that the voice of the people is always right. But in this case, we believe the poll reflects what people see on the roads every day: drivers, distracted by phone conversations, failing to control their cars or trucks properly, slowing down for no apparent reason, drifting in and out of traffic lanes, not seeing pedestrians or other vehicles until it is almost too late.

Sometimes, it is too late. A growing number of fatal accidents are caused by drivers whose attention is diverted from the road by phone conversations, though, admittedly, solid statistics are hard to come by.

Studies at the University of Utah do show, however, that a driver's mind engaged in a phone conversation is distracted from the road, whether the operator is using a hands-free device or not. That causes driver impairment at a level analogous to being legally drunk behind the wheel.

Which is a good argument for Rep. Phil Riesen's bill at the Legislature that would ban use of wireless communication devices while operating a motor vehicle on the state's highways. There would be exceptions for two-way radios for government officers, and a driver could use a cell phone or other device to report a crime or a safety hazard or to summon help in an emergency.

The law would apply to most of the gizmos in modern electronic arsenals, including PDAs and texting devices. (By the way, driving while texting also would be illegal.) Violators could be found guilty of a class C misdemeanor.

We have thought for years that such a law makes sense, but so far a majority of Utah's lawmakers have disagreed, arguing that it would be an undue infringement on personal freedom.

We're in the communications business, and we love cell phones and PDAs as much as anybody, but for the sake of personal safety on the roads, we don't think it's too much to ask Utahns to pull over if they want to make or take an important call.