Good Question: Should Cell Phones Be Banned From Cars?

The National Transportation Safety Board voted unanimously this week to ban all use of cell phones -- even the hands-free variety -- in vehicles.

The move was provoked by the case of a teen in a GMC pickup truck who was texting while driving in Missouri. He rear ended a tractor-trailer in a construction zone, which rear ended a school bus, and that bus rear ended another school bus.

Investigators found the driver had sent or received 11 texts in the 11 minutes before the crash.

The texting driver and someone riding at the back of the bus were killed; 38 people were injured.

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the initial Gray Summit collision was distraction, likely due to a text messaging conversation being conducted by the GMC pickup driver, which resulted in his failure to notice and react to a Volvo tractor that had slowed or stopped in response to a queue that had developed in a work zone," were the findings of the accident cause, per the NTSB website.

The conclusion? No one should ever be allowed to use a cell phone in a vehicle under any circumstances.

The NTSB is a federal agency charged with promoting traffic safety, but it has no legislative powers. It can only make recommendations that state lawmakers would have to take up as a cause.

Many of today's vehicles come equipped with bluetooth technology that allows drivers to make and receive calls without touching their phones. Talk 1270 host Charlie Langton said talking while driving is less distracting than trying to travel with screaming kids or while sleep deprived -- though Ford and Chrysler reportedly support a federal ban on using hand-held phones to call or text while driving.

Michigan law doesn't prohibit using a cell phones behind the wheel, but it is illegal to text while driving. There's a $100 fine for first offenders and $200 for each repeat offense.