> Why wouldn't it be - it's no different to speaking to people in the car!

Actually - it is different - they've done research which suggests that when
you talk into a phone, your other senses tend to dim down and your hearing
sense increases as your brain concentrates on the call. That's why a lot of
people who are on the phone tend to want other people around to be quite
and/or they can't cope with being interupted whilst being on the phone
because their brains can't multitask with a bombardment on their other
senses as well as hearing.

In addition, when travelling and talking to somebody in a car, when there is
a stressful moment, it is common for all the occupants to become quite at
the same time. If you're talking on a mobile phone, the person on the other
end of the line won't understand that you're about to drive into the back of
the car in front and will continue yabbering on whilst the driver will
continue listening up to the point of either just hitting or actually
ramming into the back of the car in front (or whatever obstacale there is in
front of them).

> Operating the buttons on the phone meaning you have to take your eyes off
> the road - as you do for tuning some radios or selecting a cd track -
> might not be acceptable. Most people I know can use a radio or phone and
> drive.

The buttons on a radio are significantly less complex than a mobile phone.
And in the majority of cases, you only need to press one button - on a
mobile phone you could be pressing several to make a call.

> It's only the daft woman type that can't do too many things at once and
> use it as an excuse - people like that can't drive anyway.
>

Actually, woman are significantly better at multitasking than men. Fact.