Driving deserves full attention

Hang up and drive!

So commands a popular bumper sticker that uses humor to warn against talking on a cell phone and motoring down a street at the same time.

But nobody is listening, a recent study by the AAA and University of North Carolina indicated. Researchers mounted cameras in cars and randomly selected times to view drivers' habits. The drivers knew they would be watched and still did some remarkable things behind the wheel.

They didn't just change the radio station or lean over to reach for something, which more than 90 percent of them did. Drivers were distracted 16.1 percent of the time their vehicles were moving. The study considered a wide range of behaviors to be distracting, including talking to passengers. Seventy-seven percent of drivers had conversations while driving. Thirty percent talked on cell phones.

Experts say the trouble is the American idea that we can do five things at once. Maybe, but not if one of those is driving. Researchers are going further to find out what extent distractions play in traffic accidents, but even common knowledge shows a correlation. How many people end up saying, "I just looked away for a second and ... ."

The best bet is to save phone calls, sandwiches and makeup application for somewhere other than a moving vehicle.