Dear Editor:

Eight weeks ago, my husband was hit by a car and knocked unconscious while bicycling on Route 27. An experienced cyclist, he took the precautions of riding outside the white line and wearing a helmet, but the car that came up from behind “drifted” (the police term) into his path.

We do not know whether the driver was using her phone or not, but this incident has caused us to think about the problem. As if to reinforce such thinking, on that very day as I drove up River Road to visit my husband in the hospital, I was behind a car that kept drifting into the other (oncoming traffic) lane. When I finally got to a place where I could look into that car, I saw that the driver was holding her phone and talking. It was sheer luck that no cars came along when we were driving that curvy road.

It is currently legal in Maine for drivers to use their mobile phones (unless they are under 18 or beginning drivers). Distracted driving leading to an accident is a violation, however, and texting is illegal in all cases. In the name of safety, why not ban all cell phone use?

I love my cell phone and keep it with me at all times. When I am driving, however, I simply don't answer the phone. It is too dangerous. My husband survived his accident, and is recovering. The fact that his helmet cracked upon impact tells us how close he came to losing his life. There can be no justification for Maine's continuing resistance to changing this bad law.

Phyllis Kernoff Mansfield

Boothbay