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I’m sure this is the case with many issues across the country, but it seems that while people favor restrictions on cell phone use while driving, not many people seem to obey them. This is especially so of teenagers, they who shan’t be unconnected for a period lasting longer than 3.2 seconds. But despite the enactment of laws, as is the case in North Carolina, teens are not demonstrably discouraged from talking while behind the wheel.

In the North Carolina study, researchers found that 11 percent of teenage drivers observed departing 25 high schools during the two months before the ban took effect were using cell phones. About five months after the ban took effect, during the spring of 2007, nearly 12 percent were observed using phones.

In South Carolina, observers found that 13 percent of high school students departing 18 high schools used cell phones while driving. The rates were consistent during the same two time periods studied in North Carolina.

So why isn’t this working? Enforcement issues are right up there. Most people in those two states feel that “enforcement was rare or nonexistent.” No wonder it doesn’t make more kids hang up. If they’re not going to get caught, they’re going to continue to do it.

“Cell phone bans for teen drivers are difficult to enforce,” said Anne McCartt, the [Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]’s senior vice president for research and an author of the study. “Drivers with phones to their ears aren’t hard to spot, but it’s nearly impossible for police officers to see handsfree devices or correctly guess how old drivers are.”

Despite my fervor for cell phone bans in cars, and not just for teens, I think the earbud thing is a bit excessive. While I agree that teenagers might be more apt to be distracted while behind the wheel — teens are in three times more fatal crashes than their older counterparts — it’s tough to take away the earbud. What are they going to do next, take away the right to carry a passenger? Wait, no, that might give someone some ideas.

The point is, just having a law in place is not enough. It takes education, enforcement, and involvement by parents, too.

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