The NTSB, a government advisory board, has recommended a complete ban on using cell phones while driving. Cell phones are the number one cause of distracted driving (remembering that intoxication is its own catagory!), and responsible for thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries each year.

Drivers who used cell phones while driving are punished differently in each state, since most states and counties have passed laws banning cell phones used by drivers. This is partly the impetus for the new recommendation, which includes bluetooth devices but not on board cell phones.

So there's two reasons not to use cell phones while driving: you may kill someone, or you may just get a ticket because it's hard to know state and local laws.

Passengers can still use cell phones freely, although the rules may be different for teenagers in some counties, where distracted driving laws take teenage risks, which include having friends in the car, more seriously (teens have to learn to drive with distractions eventually—creating new age limits only delays the learning curve).

Finally, most smartphones can be connected to onboard systems, which are available in many new models, including low end ones. You can even use cell phones to play music wirelessly & automatically in your car, as an added motivation to upgrade dashboards and end distracted driving!