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RALEIGH (AP) - Senators fired questions Tuesday at the sponsor of a bill to ban drivers from talking on hand-held cell phones, and diluted the measure with amendments to reduce punishment and allow motorists to call a loved one in an emergency.

While support for separate legislation to bar drivers from texting on cell phones this year appears to be strong, the ban on calling while driving got lukewarm support from several members of the Senate Commerce Committee.

"I don't think we can protect everybody in every situation," said Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston, who said eating in the car can lead to inattentive driving. "That's a lot more distracting, particularly when you start dropping chili on your tie."

The sponsor, Sen. Charlie Dannelly, agreed to some changes because he wanted to make the bill as palatable to as many members as possible. It won't get a final committee vote until at least next week.

A similar cell phone ban passed a Senate committee two years ago but was pulled from the floor because Dannelly, D-Mecklenburg, didn't have enough votes.

"Legislators are coming to me saying, 'I voted against your bill the last time. Please run it again. Somebody almost creamed me out there (while) on a cell phone,'" Dannelly said after the meeting.

The bill would expand on a 2006 law that prohibits drivers under 18 years old from talking on the phone, except in an emergency and while talking to a parent or emergency personnel.

Dannelly's measure would apply to all drivers in vehicles with motors running, although adults using handsfree phones would be exempt.

Pointing to a photograph of a car wreck involving a distracted driver on the phone, Dannelly said there's no doubt distracted motorists speaking on hand-held cell phones are contributing to accidents.

At least five states have banned all drivers from talking on handheld cell phones, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety agencies.

"This is a bill of common sense," Dannelly told the committee. "This is a bill whose time has come."

But committee members cited studies showing that other forms of distraction - eating, adjusting the radio or daydreaming - also are dangerous. Others asked Dannelly whether state troopers have had difficulty enforcing the 2006 law.

"I don't think the body of evidence is weighty enough to take away the ability for all of us ... to make that choice to talk on the cell phone," said Sen. Eddie Goodall, R-Union.

Henry Jones, a lobbyist representing the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said the bill also appeared to make illegal some voice-activated technology within vehicles that provides Internet access. The North Carolina Home Builders Association also is concerned because the bill doesn't make an exception for one-touch walkie-talkie style communications on phones popular with contractors.

"Their offices are in their pickup trucks," said Paul Wilms, an association lobbyist.

On voice votes, the committee narrowly approved an amendment reducing the penalty from $100 to $25 and deleting the obligation to pay court costs.

Another change would allow motorists to call an immediate family member with a hand-held phone during an emergency. The exemption already applied to 911-type calls and to police and firefighters making calls.

AAA Carolinas supports bills like Dannelly's, motor club spokesman Tom Crosby said. The Governors Highway Safety Association suggests cell phone prohibitions for new drivers or school bus drivers. North Carolina already has both prohibitions in place.