U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced Thursday the Department of Transportation (DOT) is pushing for Congress to ban all cell phone usage while driving. Previously the federal authorities, including the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), had recommended that such bans were appropriate by only state and local governments.

Horace Cooper, adjunct fellow with the National Center calls the proposal "absurd" and Washington is "out of sync" with America. He feels the DOT's measure is premature and the solution should include voluntary and rely on education and technology.

He adds driving while talking on a cell phone is one of several distractions when getting behind the wheel of a vehicle and "pretending" it will be safer because drivers could no longer use their phones is "absurd".