The recommendation doesn’t have the weight of the law, but this decision could have policy repercussions in the states and municipalities that lead to stricter laws about cellphone use on the road. While I’m not an advocate for using the phone behind the wheel, cars and smartphones are becoming increasingly integrated in this day and age, so it’s hard to see people taking it seriously.
Perhaps we can see some changes done by phone manufacturers and app developers to make phone operation while driving safer i.e. more voice-activated commands, apps with a “car mode” featuring larger buttons etc. What do you think of the NTSB’s proposal?