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The National Safety Council, which campaigned to get U.S. states to enforce seatbelt laws, is taking on mobile phones, saying it was starting a campaign to ban all use of mobile phones while driving.

Even so-called hands-free devices should be banned, because studies show they do not make it any safer to talk on the telephone while driving, the group said. But several recent studies have shown drivers are far more distracted when speaking on a mobile phone, even with a speaker or headset, than talking to a live passenger.

Last month Dave Strayer of the University of Utah and colleagues demonstrated that drivers using a hands-free device drifted out of their lanes and missed exits more frequently than drivers talking to a passenger.

Strayer's team has also shown that drivers using mobile telephones are as impaired as drivers who are legally drunk.

"When you're on a call, even if both hands are on the wheel, your head is in the call, and not on your driving," Janet Froetscher, president and chief executive officer of the non-profit group said. "Unlike the passenger sitting next to you, the person on the other end of the call is oblivious to your driving conditions. The passenger provides another pair of eyes on the road."

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