Recent studies in Europe and the US suggest that "distracted driving" - driving while talking on a cellphone or, even worse, tapping out a text message - is more dangerous than driving when alcoholically or chemically impaired.
I suggest that those researchers have never seen the condition of the average Cape Flats driver on a Friday night.
Nevertheless, I've had a number of frightening near-misses lately as drivers drifted aimlessly across several lanes (in rush-hour traffic!), eyes down and concentrating as their thumbs danced across the keys. So I can only applaud Oprah Winfrey's well-meaning if naïve "No-Phone Zone" campaign.
As a biker at risk every day from drivers who simply don't see me because they're fiddling with the satnav/cruise control/hands-free connection or just selecting a tune on the iPod they've got plugged into the car's built-in data port, I support any initiative that gets drivers to focus on driving.
But it ain't gonna happen.
Automakers now base entire sales campaigns on how "wired" their cars are; satnav, USB ports and even internet connections are becoming standard issue on upmarket family cars. Bluetooth connectivity, enabling you to make and receive phone calls from your car's audio system, is commonplace - my wife's 1.4-litre budget hatchback has it.
Most BMW 5 and 7 Series models now offer the facility to read, compose and send e-mails while driving; many other major automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Audi, Saab and Chrysler, offer some form of internet access. Ford proudly boasts that within four years 80 percent of its US model line-up will not only be permanently online but will also be Wi-fi hotspots, so drivers can use their laptops, tablets and music devices to access the internet while on the move.
How much of their attention will be on actually driving the car?
Driving, no matter how many wheels you have under you, is a complex process with constantly changing parameters. Getting it wrong is always expensive and usually painful, yet we rush headlong towards a scenario where cars will drive themselves because they have to; their occupants will be too busy networking to worry about where they're going.
Before you accuse me of overstating the case, consider how many cars already have adaptive cruise control that applies the brakes if they get too close to the car in front and lane recognition software that gently corrects the steering if the car drifts across freeway lane markings.
If you discount the 50.5 percent of motorcycle accidents worldwide that are directly caused by car drivers, motorcyclists aged 18-35 have fewer accidents than car drivers of the same age. Could that be because - other than a few luxury tourers - bikes have neither audio systems, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cruise control nor satnav? Could it be that bikers focus better on riding simply because they have fewer distractions?