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A few months ago, I made a small wager with a friend: North Carolina, within three years, will ban drivers from using hand-held cell phones.     

My friend vigorously disagreed. Politicians will never forbid it, she said, because cell phones and driving are ingrained in our state and national culture. “Turn on the ignition, flip on your cell phone,” she added. 

Nonsense. A half-dozen states, including California and New Jersey, have complete or partial bans on hand-held cell phones. New Jersey has one of the toughest laws on the books. It slaps a $100 fine on drivers caught chatting on cell phones — or  text messaging — while driving.   

Last September, the auto club AAA Carolinas warned drivers about yammering or text messaging while they drive. In counties with high accident rates, AAA posted pictures of bloody highway crashes with these words: “You drive. You dial. You die.”

Public opinion is finally awakening to the perils. An Elon University poll found that a majority of North Carolinians now say dialing and driving is dangerous.

The poll, conducted in late February, found that 88 percent of respondents have cell phones but 80 percent think it’s unsafe to use them while driving. Significantly, 65 percent of respondents said it should be illegal to drive and chat on cell phones except in emergencies.

The dangerous are documented. A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study found that 80 percent of wrecks were caused by drivers’ distractions by wireless devices such as cell phones. 

The United States is a Johnny-come-lately to face the problem. More than 40 countries have a total or partial ban on dialing and driving. Among them are Britain, France, Russia, Israel, Australia, Italy and parts of Canada. 

Many folks insist that a cell phone ban is unenforceable. Those same skeptics probably said the seat belt law was also unenforceable. But now we buckle up. 

As for text messaging, the California train tragedy should be a wake-up call to ban that irresponsible practice while operating a moving vehicle.

The engineer of a California commuter train was text messaging a train buff and ignored a red light. His train plowed head-on into another train, killing 25 people, including the engineer, and injuring 130 others.

In a previous column, I’ve argued against cell phone use in libraries, concerts and other public places where the chatter imposes on other people’s privacy. So you’re no doubt thinking I’m some crabby Luddite who hates technology. Nope, I own a cell phone, too.  

But I do think it’s high time the North Carolina legislature forbids drivers from using hand-held cell phones and text messaging. It all boils down to one word: SAFETY. 

Speaking of North Carolina affairs, let’s talk about that ‘godless’ ad that the campaign of former GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole ran against Kay Hagan, the Greensboro Democrat, only days before the Nov. 4 election. 

Marty Ryall, Dole’s campaign manager, admits he made a few mistakes. But not the one you would expect him to confess.       

Writing in the March issue of Politics magazine, Ryall said if he had it to do over, he’d omit the “There is no God” voice-over at the end of the ad. The voice-over was that of another woman, not Hagan’s. It was designed to give voters the impression that Hagan is an atheist. (Hagan is a Christian and member of Greensboro’s First Presbyterian Church.)

Ryall admits that he ran the ad in desperation because Dole was trailing in the polls. “The risk was huge and not worth taking until it was evident we could not win without it, and that was not clear until about 10 days out. Had the ad run about 20 days out, it may have made it closer. ...”

In other words, Ryall’s regret is not that the political ad ran — even though national surveys ranked it among the most outrageous of the campaign season. Ryall’s regret is that he didn’t run it sooner and without the voice-over. He thinks it might have turned the tide for Dole. And never mind the truth.  

Meanwhile, I keep wondering what Dole, who talks publicly about her own Christian faith, thinks about the “godless” ad she willingly endorsed.

Rosemary Roberts writes a column for the News & Record on alternate Fridays. E-mail: Rmroberts@triad.rr.com.