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Comment: voice-recognition must advance to avoid mobile accidents.

Evidence is that people have more accidents driving with a phone in their hand and talking, than with alcohol in their blood. What is going to happen when these phones all display Internet browsers, in full colour?

I can vouch for this. I once spent a terrified half hour as a passenger in a Florida taxi, being driven from Orlando airport to an exhibition building, while the driver not only took calls on a hand-held phone, but wrote down directions and numbers on a note pad he kept on his dash-board with the other hand. No, he wasn't holding the steering wheel; he was making occasional grabs at it.

And he wasn't looking at the road much, either.

In states like Singapore, where you can get away with repressive laws, the prohibition on holding a phone while driving is absolute. A friend there answered an incoming call while driving, long enough to say: "I can't talk, I'm driving!" - and to put the phone down. This incident was recorded on roadside video monitors, and he lost his licence to drive for several weeks.

So I'm sympathetic to the idea that people should not use one hand to drive and another to dial a phone; but it's quite another matter to suggest that it becomes illegal - because this isn't Singapore. Almost nowhere is Singapore! and any country which has more roads than can be totally monitored by video, has to achieve the consent of the drivers before imposing such a law.

Actually, I prefer not to be distracted at all when driving; and I don't doubt - not for a moment! - that talking to someone on the phone, or even talking to someone sitting next to me, or maybe even listening to an absorbing radio programme, all distract the driver. Getting all these things banned by law, however, is quite another matter.

We discriminate needlessly against mobile phone users. You can sit in a public room, surrounded by braying idiots shouting at each other about their triumphs of the day, and making an incredible noise; but if you take out a phone to attend to something urgent, it is you who will be reprimanded.

When it comes to mobile data use, the situation is even more frightening. A German driver last week was arrested for driving "erratically" at 85 mph - when stopped, he turned out to have a notebook computer open next to him, and an open Internet connection established through his mobile phone.

Today, it is (pretty much) possible to place calls without touching or looking at your phone. You press a little bug in your phone hands-free kit, say "call home" and the phone will place the call for you. It will also answer incoming calls. How many phone owners have ever even set up voice-controlled calling?

When it comes to movile Internet, it's far worse.

You aren't limiting the commands to ten or so frequently-dialled numbers; you're looking to connect to complex web sites, for information - about traffic, about directions, about facilities where you're going. You'll want very sophisticated voice recognition; and you'll want it to work in an appalling environment, where engine and road noise is deafening.

It's no use saying "Ban the device." Evidence is that people will disregard the law. Even in Britain, where more people "belt up" with seat restraints than almost anywhere, there is widespread neglect by about a quarter of the population, of this simple safety precaution; in other countries (South Africa notoriously comes to mind) fewer than a quarter of drivers obey the law to strap in.

This is an area where technology is not just a nice market opportunity. It's a vital safety precaution.

And interestingly, it's one where modern wireless technology could make a big difference. In a car, there's no need to stint on processor power; the electricity generation facilities which can drive an aircon unit would shrug off a 64-bit super-server, if they had to.

Of course, the phone itself would be no more powerful than it had to be. But it could be linked to the car computer, which could be easily powerful enough to do quite sophisticated voice recognition - and synthesis, of course - in a variety of acoustic environments. And all the instructions would come from the car computer to the phone via Bluetooth - so the driver would be able to keep the phone in a pocket, rather than being required to plug it into the dashboard.

If Government is serious about wanting to promote phone safety in cars, it won't only shout about the dangers of driving and dialling, or plan legislation banning phone use; rather, it will institute some kind of sponsorship for the inclusion of powerful data processing in the cars themselves - a reduction in road tax, for example - and encourage research into the user interface.

Alas; we fear the unusual, and phones are still unusual. We're still not quite at home with the sound of half a conversation in a public room, and rather than adjust to it, we would prefer to put up a sign: "Mobile-free zone!" on the wall.

It's a safe bet that the Government will respond in much the same way. We badly need the new technology, and it isn't likely to become popular without official sponsorship. But I wouldn't expect it to be quick in coming.