as states move to ban "distracted driving" - texting and talking on the phone - they might want to widen their conception a bit. few things are more distracting than a screaming toddler in the back seat, except perhaps two or three: you're constantly turning around and yelling etc. driving while toddled should certainly be illegal. eating, smoking, driving with your hand on her knee while she coos etc: surely all are felonies. cities tend to be extremely distracting, and signs, and complex interchanges. ban em. you might study the distracting power of hip hop vs country vs mahler, and the effects of singing along.

seat belts are distracting, and all those lights and buzzers telling you your doors are open, your tires flat, your belt unbuckled. windshield wipers are distracting, as is, for that matter, weather. now it might be difficuylt to enforce a law against weather, but americans have always dreamed big.

for that matter, we should focus on the other end and notice that some people are more easily distracted than others. anyone who's ever been diagnosed with add, for example, has no business behind the wheel for the rest of their lives.even the non-addled should be required to swallow ritalin, of course, to improve their focus.

in all seriousness, i've listened to the info on texting and driving (though as always in such cases, with some skepticism as to the quality of info), and i have reduced, though not stopped, my texting behind the wheel. i think that that kind of persuasion is the only legitimate way to proceed. no one really wants to crash, various novels notwithstanding. if you can show that it's not in people's interest to text and drive, they'll change their behavior. so take that approach.