Say Bye-Bye to Your Car Phone

Pressure is building to ban cell phone usage while driving. And that could cause big problems for sales pros, since they're on the road more than anyone else.

The pressure is the result of some recently released studies showing that you're just as likely to cause an accident while using a cell phone as if your blood alchohol is at .8 percent.

And it doesn't matter whether whether you're holding the phone in your hand or using a headset. It's the conversation with the invisible person -- not the tied-up hand -- that captures your attention, making you a rolling road hazard. (See "Driven to Distraction in the NY Times.")

I think it's only a matter of time before the federal government, or state governments, make it illegal to make phone calls while your driving. And, ya know what, if that end up making sales pros less productive, I'll bet there's not a company on the planet that's going to reduce sales quotas to match the new reality.

While I'm all for fewers accidents, I predict that this is going to be a freakin' nightmare for sales pros.

While one can theoretically pull over, that's time that could be spent driving from one customer to the next. And pulling over isn't always an option. The highway may lack exits, or have exits that take you into neighborhoods where you'd be nuts to sit in a parked car with a cell phone.

The only question I have is how big a problem this is going to be. What do you think?