Katie Couric's Notebook: Distracted Drivers

We've all seen them. Drivers talking away on their cell phones, apparently paying more attention to the conversation than the road. I bet you'll even admit to doing it yourself on occasion.

Well, here's a wake-up call.

The National Safety Council says phoning while driving quadruples your risk of an accident, causing 2,600 deaths a year. So, it's asking state legislatures to ban cell phones behind the wheel. Not just make drivers go hands free, but hang up their phones altogether.

While some drivers applaud the move, others think it goes too far, insisting they canmulti-task safely. They can't imagine ignoring calls on the road. What if someone needed them in an emergency?

It's hard to say whether lawmakers will go along. The Safety Council knows it has a tough PR job. But it overcame similar opposition a generation ago: when people resisted its attempts to force drivers to buckle up.