It's a simple call. Driving requires your full attention.

Do you remember the days before cellphones?

In the not-too-distant past, before the phones became as ubiquitous as air, you couldn't dial or receive calls while you were behind the wheel. Folks had to call someone before they left home, or after they arrived at their destination. You actually had the luxury of being "off the grid" for a while.

Somehow, we survived the lack of technology.

This will sound like fantasy - maybe heresy - to a generation nursed on laptops, iPads and other wireless gadgets. Today, there are 5.3 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide, or 77 percent of the global population.

And there's no question that cellphones are a convenient way to keep in touch with each other. They help us complete our "to do" lists more quickly.

Still, convenience isn't everything.

That's why federal officials just recommended that all 50 states and Washington, D.C., ban using cellphones while driving, except in emergencies. Too often, the habit jeopardizes safety and leads to accidents, injuries and deaths. The five-member National Transportation Safety Board voted unanimously for the ban following several fatal crashes across the country.

It's a smart move, and it should force state legislatures to examine the issue more seriously. Motorists have turned their cars into mobile offices, social networking sites and gossip centers. They've forgotten the primary reason for driving: to get from Point A to Point B, safely.

The feds didn't make their recommendation cavalierly. There's a body of research, over the past decade, that shows the dangers when motorists use cellphones to text or call. Professors at the University of Utah have done yeoman work on the subject.

For example:

- In 2001, they found hands-free phones were just as distracting as hand-held ones. They later found that the conversation itself was more of a distraction than the device. "Such drivers aren't aware they are impaired," they said.

- In 2005, a study suggested that when teens and young adults talk on cellphones while driving, their reaction times are as slow as those of elderly drivers.

- In 2006, researchers noted that motorists who talk on cellphones "are as impaired as drunken drivers."

Many drivers believe they shouldn't have to make sacrifices because they can handle the phone and the road just fine.

The problem is they aren't multitasking as well as they think. A federal survey, for example, found many drivers don't think texting is dangerous when they do it - but it's a problem when others do.

It's easy enough to pull off the road and make a call or text - with the engine in "Park."

I do not consider last week's recommendation by the NTSB some sort of "federal overreach." Officials have undertaken several crusades over the years, from seat belts to air bags to raising the drinking age. Such steps have made it safer for everybody on the highways.

State legislators have a chance to do the right thing by stiffening Virginia laws. They should be encouraged by a study by AAA Mid-Atlantic, which found that 66 percent of Virginians polled within the last year favor a ban on texting and cellphone use while driving.

Technology, after all, shouldn't kill you.

Roger Chesley, (757) 446-2329, roger.chesley@pilotonline.com, pilotonline.com/chesley