Ban drivers' cell-phone use

The sadness I feel about the death of Lauren Mulkey is overshadowed by the rage I have toward our ineffective legislators. To say she was killed by a "distracted driver" or a driver "talking on his cell phone" doesn't express how dangerous this behavior is and how easily this risk can be eliminated.
National studies over the past 10 years have reaffirmed that drivers using a cell phone while driving are as dangerous on the roads as drunken drivers. I have been campaigning and communicating with legislators for years for laws to keep Utah motorists from using cell phones while they drive. Past attempts at legislation have been watered down and obfuscated by lawmakers, who equate this danger with that of eating a hamburger or changing a CD while driving. There is absolutely no such comparison. We need honest and thoughtful representatives who support public safety to join together and draft straightforward legislation to prohibit the use of cell phones, both hand-held and hands-free, by all Utah drivers.

Murray Hayward
Sandy