The government is planning to ban the use of cellphones in cars, a great move if it saves lives on the road.

Let's not stop there. The ban should tackle some equally dangerous driver habits at the same time. It's difficult to quantify stupidity, so let's start with some other distractions that must be contributing to road accidents.

1. Smoking
2. Changing CDs
3. Checking make up
4. Distracting passengers.
5. Things that dangle.

1. This should be a no-brainer. Smoking, in itself is a no brainer – you'd have to have rocks in your head to carry on with it, knowing what we all know today. But lighting up while driving should be outlawed. Along with cigarette lighters in cars. There's no future for anyone. If we can't answer a cellphone call safely, then we can't expect to light and smoke.

2. Changing CDs and fiddling with the car radio is surely just as dangerous. Considering the CD player is generally in the centre of the dashboard, the CDs are stored in jackets or sleeves somewhere and the driver must be distracted from the road ahead to selection, remove from the cover and insert in the CD drive. Fine if your passenger is doing it, in which case the drive should only be allowed if it's located in the passenger side, inaccessible to the driver or in the back seat. The answer is: Get a stacker!

3. Checking make up: how many times have we seen cars belting along the highway with the driver undertaking a close quarters examine of the lips, eyeliner or crow's feet in the rear vision mirror? Not just Ma'a Nonu on his way to training, but some women do this too.
4. Distracting passengers. This should be defined as anyone under the age of 20. Part of the boy racer problem is not just the fast cars, alcohol and disregard for the law and human safety – it's the peer pressure. Outlaw carriage of passengers for anyone under 20, raise the driving age and a large part of the hoonery will be cut.

5. Dangly things. Crap that hangs from the rear view mirror. Anything that obscures the field of vision is a really dumb idea and should be outlawed. Fluffy dice, voodoo charms, Christine Rankin's earrings, Indian mystical feather arrangements, and assorted pieces of underwear will not improve anyone's view of the road.

I'm sure our MPs will lead by example on this cellphone-while-driving ban. Yeah, right. Just like the MP caught using his phone on a plane a few years ago.

Rugby revival
There's been a lot of concern lately about the boy racer issue.
All sorts of experts having their say about how to deal with the problem.
Here at RR, we think it's a shortage of rugby. Good old fashioned energy burning, testosterone-flexing rough and tumble. Rugby has camaraderie, teamwork, a sense of belonging, instils a sense of pride in young men; and best of all, oranges at halftime.
These guys need an outlet for their bravado. The rugby field is the perfect place.
Plus, it's great for fitness and team building.
Sure there's a risk of injury, but nothing compared to the risks of tomfoolery on the road; stupidity that threatens the lives of innocent travellers.

Blast from the past
Finally this week, I enjoyed a lovely evening with the genealogists last night. Prompted by a piece in one of my columns recently about my ancestor's relics, they invited me to speak about my forebears; our historic building at No.1 The Strand and this column.
I took along a few relics, some from my great grandfather. As I carefully loaded his World War II hand grenade into the car, it reminded me of the time I took the grenade to primary school for show and tell.
I'm not sure if my parents knew I'd taken a hand grenade to school for the day, but what they didn't know didn't hurt them.
My mates and I had a great time in the playground.
You wouldn't get away with it these days. If you show up with bombs or guns they tend to get a bit excitable and you'd pretty soon find yourself surrounded by armed officers in flak jackets and helmets.
Geez, it's not like we pulled the pin. Well, not very often.