Cell Phones: The perfect connection of Technology and Politics

On Thursday I was traveling and saw a roadside billboard advertising making your car a cell free zone. I didn't quite understand the billboard completely as I was driving and needed to pay attention to the road. It was only on Friday that I saw that Oprah was supporting a project to get everyone to agree to not use cell phones in their car, including texting. I strongly support this cause as driving and being on the phone is extremely dangerous. I encourage everyone to sign this pledge.
I am writing about this issue as this is at the nexus of politics and technology. Cell phones originally were big enough to be used as police batons and were very rare. By the early 2000's they were ubiquitous and small enough to be in the palm of your hand. The problem is that more drivers were distracted by cell phone calls which is a safety hazard. New York was the first state to ban cell phone use while driving. The technological capabilities only increased after the law was passed and texting became a very important communication form for many people. Now people are getting into accidents when they are driving and texting. States have had to adjust their laws to deal with the advances in the capabilities of cellphones.
Technology is always progressing forward unless it is explicitly banned. In an ideal world the engineers and designers would consider and warn the consumers as to dangerous or potentially dangerous uses of the new product. The truth is that in the situation of cell phones it takes legislators to decide the issue is a matter of public interest. Sadly this takes longer than it should because a majority of the legislators must be convinced to vote in favor.