"scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote:
> Yet it's illegal to use a mobile phone while sat stationary in traffic...

There's a reason to this:

Phone calls distract you, that's plain fact (the mistake the legislation makes
here is IMO that it distracts you no matter whether you use a handsfree unit or
not, but that's another story).

So here you are, concentrated on your phone call - all the more (!) since you're
in stationary traffic so what can possibly happen - and the car in front of you
starts going again. Being in the middle of conversation, you kind of
instinctively follow, but your attention is possibly still in the conversation,
and your instinct is focused on gearing up again.

Now if the person driving in front of you has a reason to hit the brake - and
hit it fast! - you and your instincts may not be attentive enough to hit the
brake yourself in time, so what you hit instead is the car in front.

Not that I'd consider such an accident dramatic, but it it's an argument that
can be made.

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