The Columnist Manifesto

One of the studies of SUV unsafety made the point that the behemoth vehicles appeal – and indeed, are to some extent marketed to – people who believe that they don’t drive that well, and believe so quite rightly. Perhaps Marginal Utility, which raises blogging standards by citing actual data (rather than simply shooting from the hip like some people I could mention) could look at the connection between SUV driving and driving while talking with one hand on the cell phone.

While electronic stability control systems will undoubtedly improve safety, such systems will be radically incomplete as long as rampant cell phone talking-driving persists. Perhaps a feature could be added to these systems that safely pulls the car over to the side of the road if a cell phone is operating and only one hand is on the wheel.