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Do we have existing tech that can disable cellphones? I suppose the driver’s seat could be wrapped in a faraday cage. Perhaps drivers could request an exception, with tougher penalties for exempted drivers who get busted using a handheld device while driving.

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Blocking cell phones is legally problematic because it interferes with 911 calls.

I'm sure there are technical strategies to allow true emergency calls without texting, but I feel like there's a lot of ways for that to go haywire with tragic consequences and there's no need to starting playing with that fire just yet.

On iOS, if your device is connected to the car’s Bluetooth, then you can’t use the device unless you’re using it hands-free (despite research showing that hands-free is just as distracting as holding a phone), or unless you’ve disabled this protective feature on your device.

Doesn't everyone disable this the first time they're a passenger in their own car? (e.g. if your spouse is driving)

Personally, I disable it on a per-use basis, and not within Settings.

And actually, my use case for per-use disabling is usually when I'm the driver: I turn on my car and then I pick up my phone to select some music - but I can't because the phone thinks I'm driving even though I'm parked.

But I'm sure most people have it permanently disabled.

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