McGarvey’s Words

Hogwash -- that's my one-word comment on legislative efforts to curtail cell phone usage in cars. It's plain stupid, and that is a fact underlined by a report out of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that says, in effect, yes, some accidents are attributable to cell phone usage by drivers but this is matched by the economic value that is attributable to calls from cars.

Probably more accidents are caused by drivers eating burritos. And it is difficult to quantify the economic value of drooling refried beans down your chin while driving.

Besides, I have a modest suggestion that just may cure the ills caused by drivers making calls while driving: Sign up for OnStar.

Don't laugh. I understand OnStar and other telematics initiatives have been more fizzle than sizzle as they have proved themselves marketplace duds. But I suggest that now is the time to reassess.

A month ago I bought a Subaru Outback, L.L. Bean edition, and the car came with all manner of standard frills including OnStar. Thrown in was 30 minutes of airtime, just to try to coax drivers into giving it a go.

I am liking what I am discovering. Dialing is as easy as saying: Dial...1-520-555-1212. The computerized operator politely responds, "dialing." Seconds later you are connected and the quality of this connection is superb, sharp, and about as good as a landline. A little antenna is hidden on the roof, tucked in the middle of the roof rack, and it juices up the connection clarity. Most cell phone calls from moving vehicles still sound as though they are powered by tins cans and string, but the OnStar set-up (powered by Verizon in most places, we're told) delivers extraordinary fidelity even as the car moves.

Phone calling is just the beginning of the OnStar plusses -- and, listen up, if you are like me, more of your business travel is getting done in cars so little automotive perks matter more. OnStar builds in a concierge service that's a boon to a road warrior. Drive into San Ramon and suddenly realize you are clueless about where the ChevronTexaco HQ is, no problem, that detailed info is available to you just by clicking a button and talking to an operator whose job is to help you find what you need. Ditto for directions to hotels, restaurants, even ATMs.

Emergency services are at the heart of OnStar. It knows when an air bag is deployed and will check in to see if all is cool with you. Lock your keys in the car? In a 21st century magic trick, OnStar can open the doors. Lost your car in an airport or shopping center parking lot? Call OnStar and the service can make your car's lights flash and horn sound. Need road service? A call into the Onstar command center brings it to you.

Yes, as I said, I like this package of goodies more and more, and I dislike attempts by governments to regulate in-car cell phone usage more and more, too.

Legislative initiatives to ban cell phone usage in cars seem to be multiplying. They are everywhere from India (in New Delhi it apparently is illegal even to use a hands-free kit. Bizarre. Anybody who can get any manner of phone to work in antediluvian India deserves not a citation but a prize) to several New Jersey towns (I wonder if smoking a telephone-pole size cigar whilst driving a la Tony Soprano is illegal in these same righteous villages). (See the legislative scorecard here.)

Am I opposed to all bans on cell phone usage in cars? I have no problem with a recent National Traffic Safety Board initiative to persuade states to join New Jersey and Maine in banning wireless device use by inexperienced drivers. When I was 18 I had enough trouble keeping the car on the road and I can only imagine how bad my driving would have been with a cell phone in hand.

I am copacetic with Delaware's ban on "inattentive driving," which can include using a cell phone -- or eating a dripping burrito. If you're not paying attention, get away from the wheel.

I also have no problem with the more aggressive and sweeping bans -- already enacted in some cities -- against use of handheld devices while driving. Don't tell me it is safe to dial an 11 digit number while motoring on the 10 freeway at 75 miles per hour. And it is only a little safer to scroll through a phone's address book in search of the right number to dial.

Nor am I a fan of one-handed driving -- and, really, with good, cheap hands-free kits flooding the market, there is no good reason not to buy an earpiece cum mike.

Or just buy a car with OnStar for a hands-free, voice activated way to make calls from the mobile road. This has to be about as safe as car calling gets and that's why it wins my vote.

How do you call from the car? Tell us what and why and the best emails will go here.

Want to keep reading McGarvey's Words? Sign up for Joe Brancatelli's weekly email notification of new travel columns that have posted. McGarvey's Words usually posts every other week, except when it doesn't. How to get this update? Just send Joe a blank E-mail and Joe will sign you up personally.

Click here to visit Joe Brancatelli's Travel Site JoeSentMe.com

Keep coming back, for more of McGarvey’s Words.

Taos Land Sale: Click For Details

Have a cruise complaint? File it with Porthole Magazine's Ombudsman.

McGarvey on Publishers Marketplace: Brain Wars

About Robert McGarvey

Author of How to Dotcom (Entrepreneur Press), McGarvey is writing a book on Brain Wars, the rise of cognitive science and the search for truths about thinking. A onetime columnist for BizTravel.com, he is a frequent contributor to dozens of magazines, ranging from American Legion to Electronic Business, Technology Review, and Rutgers. He has also contributed to Harvard Business Review. For the past five years, he has served as "The Ombudsman" for PORTHOLE Cruise Magazine. Still curious about McGarvey? Read up on him here.

Taos Land Sale: Click For Details