As the number of cellphone users continues to go, the debate over the role of cellphones in traffic accidents will only intensify.

Those looking to ban cellphones in cars cite statistics such as users of cellphones face a 38 percent higher risk of having an accident than non-users; using a cellular phone while driving is equivalent to driving drunk—a quadrupling of the accident risk; and cellphones were a factor in 50 car crashes in 1999 that killed one person and injured 67, in Minnesota.

Where others say mobile phones use is just another distraction along with eating a hamburger, reading the newspaper, and disciplining unruly children. They cite statistics that show 20 to 30 percent of car crashes are due to driver distraction of which just 1.5 percent is due to using a cellphone.

But when tragedy strikes, the debate becomes uncompromising. For example, in Ontario recently a father and his two-year child died when their car hit an oncoming train while the father was engaged in a cellphone conversation. This sparked the Toronto Chief of Police to call for an outright ban on drivers using cellphones behind the wheel, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

That same week U.S. lawmakers were hearing from witnesses on both sides of the issue at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Highway and Transit subcommittee.

Among the witnesses was the founder of Advocates for CellPhone Safety who shared the story of how her daughter was killed by a man driving a car while talking on his mobile phone.

Balancing the debate were lobbyists from the cellular industry offering their own stories. Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, recounted the story of a family who helped catch a kidnapper because they called police after spotting the suspect’s vehicle on the highway. He also spoke of how an eight-year old boy used his uncle’s cellphone to contact emergency services after a boating accident.

According to Wheeler, the wireless phone is the greatest safety tool since the development of 911. He urged Congress "to join the wireless industry and help educate motorists about how to use their wireless phones responsibly," in other words, it’s the conversation not the technology that is the distraction.

Thus the challenge for any jurisdiction is how to balance the right of the individual to communicate with the safety of the roadways.

For the moment, lawmakers have little trouble agreeing that a cellular phone used while driving is a growing distraction, with potentially deadly consequences, but they believe it is premature to advocate for federal legislation in this area, reported The Washington Times.

But with the rapid emergence of new technologies, such as navigation systems and on-board computers, the debate has only just begun.