Yep, I remember back in the 70's, in Chicago area, not sure if it was the state, or Chicago, but they had a big debate over outlawing radios in cars. Too many teenagers messing with the radio, and causing accidents.Before smart phones came out, people were crashing their cars while they were fiddling with the radio, drinking, eating, brushing hair, putting on make-up and yelling at their kids. When I took drivers ed, one of the things we had to do was to use a map to navigate to a destination - does anyone else remember how much fun it was to use a 24"x36" paper paper map while you were driving? Good times!
Blame the workman, not the tool.
About ten years ago, the city I lived in in Pa, passed a law banning cell phones while driving, but also specifically exempted police. Several of the council members asked what special training the police received that made them better, they never got a response. Another asked ordinary citizens could not get the same training, to be allowed to operate a cell phone while driving.Yea, I see the police on their phones, and laptops all the time.
A slightly different take. Today, it is too easy to drive a car. Its simple to drive down the freeway with your knee steering or a one finger operation. Maybe we need to eliminate power steering, automatic transmissions, and all the other "convenience" features. Keep the safety features (seat belts, air bags, unibody design), just remove those features that make the car "easier" to drive, forcing the drive to stay focused. Yeah, that's gonna happen. Oh, well........