Do it. Hang up. Or don't drive.

Using a cell phone while driving puts lives - your own and others - in danger. According to one epidemiological study, you are four times more likely to be in an accident if you talk on a cell phone while driving.

Talking on a cell phone diverts the driver's attention. It causes what researchers call "inattention blindness." A person on the phone may look at an object on the road, but because the brain is otherwise engaged by a cell-phone conversation, the driver doesn't perceive the object.

Experiments show that talking on a cell phone while driving slows drivers' reactions. By contrast, listening to the radio or a book on tape does not cause the same impairment.

Despite all this, our community has not figured out a way to convince drivers to forsake the phone while they are at the wheel.

This is a deadly irony, considering that this state has some of the toughest anti-drunk-driving laws in the nation. One study concluded that driving while phoning multiplies the risk of getting into an accident by about the same factor as having a blood-alcohol level at the legal limit. Yet, Utah law does not send a strong message that phoning while driving is not OK.

The problem is only going to get worse as more portable communications devices come on the market. People already read e-mail, surf the Internet or watch TV while driving.

But because there's no way the law can keep pace with the consumer electronics industry, it is pointless to try to ban the use of specific devices. Instead, a general law should prohibit a driver's use of any two-way communications device while the driver is behind the wheel. There should be exceptions for a driver who has pulled to a stop safely off the road or, in case of emergency, must notify law enforcement immediately.

Laws that allow only hands-free phones don't solve the problem. Studies indicate that driver impairment from hands-free and hand-held phones are identical.

Some communities in Utah, including Sandy and American Fork, have laws against phoning and driving. Highland is considering one. The Utah Legislative has hung up on five different bills in as many years to create a statewide law, but it's time to give inattentive driving the attention it deserves.