A new Defense Department regulation requires drivers on stateside military bases to either use a hands-free set while talking on cell phones or stop their vehicles to make a call.

Such prohibitions are already in effect in Europe, Japan and Korea, and will apply to stateside bases next month.

The regulation, published in the Federal Register, also prohibits drivers from wearing portable headphones, earphones or "Cother listening devices" that make it hard for drivers to hear emergency signals, approaching vehicles and human speech, the Register says.

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Seibert said that the department wants drivers on military bases to “treat driving as a task requiring their undivided attention.”

That last part is my favorite. Cell phone use is a huge problem everywhere. I've almost been run off the phone by people on cell phones too many times to count and during Christmas I was actually hit by someone running their mouth instead of driving. I just hope the Government makes it a federal law, or at least my home state does! Anyone else hate to see people driving and talking on a cell?

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