Cell phones are everywhere and their ubiquity is inescapable. You would be hard pressed to walk 20 feet on campus without passing by someone yammering into a phone. When someone's phone goes off during class it is a nuisance, but if someone is answering or talking on a cell phone while driving it can be dangerous, especially if the driver is inexperienced.

It is this reasoning behind new bills that are being proposed in the Wisconsin legislature to ban cell phone use while driving for new drivers. Under Wisconsin's current graduated driver licensing, teens between the ages of 16 and 18 must have an instruction permit for at least six months before receiving a probationary driver license, which drivers hold until they turn 18. While there are variations on the bills being proposed, the general idea is to prohibit cell phone use for drivers with probationary licenses or learner's permits.

These new pushes for banning cell phones would not have been possible were it not for the success of the graduated driver licensing program. One study had shown that in the first three years since the law was enacted in 2000 accidents involving 16-year-olds were down 15 percent compared to the three years prior to the law, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Combine that with a recent Progressive Insurance study that showed people using a cell phone while driving, 46 percent swerved into another lane, 41 percent sped up and 10 percent ran a red light; it is not hard to imagine lawmakers trying to build on the success of the GDL by prohibiting cell phones to young drivers.

There are three legislators who are sponsoring bills restricting cell phone use. One proposed by Rep. Tony Staskunas (D — West Allis) is the strictest of the three. It would call for a two-year ban before a driver could use a cell phone with a possible fine of $20. Another bill by Rep. Jerry Petrowski (R — Wausau) would prohibit cell phone use for only nine months after receiving their license and could carry a fine of $50. Senator Cathy Stepp (R — Racine) rounds out the three with a bill very similar to Staskunas'.

Wisconsin would not be the first to pass such a law; New Jersey, Maine and Washington, D.C. have already passed laws prohibiting cell phone use while driving. Since all the laws have been enacted relatively recently, there have been no thorough studies that have shown either way if the laws have been effective in reducing accidents.

It is doubtful that anyone who has driven while talking on the phone would deny it is indeed distracting to do so, but would they support putting an end to it? Most would probably not surrender their phone privileges very readily, but since the proposed bills affect only those not old enough to vote, the objections would be spare. Inexperienced drivers are already more dangerous than most others on the road and putting a cell phone in their hands will only make it worse.

We at Marquette should have no reason to be against such measures since it can only benefit us with safer streets. Besides, most of us already have our licenses.

This editorial appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 15 2005.