Here’s an irony. One day, while on the way to help a relative, my phone rang. It had fallen to the floor and in case it might be important, I pulled off the freeway, so I could find a parking lot to return the call. I waited for the oncoming traffic to go past, so I could get onto the service street. I had pulled forward a little and was about to pull all the way out into traffic when the car behind me rearended me because she had not been paying attention.
Illustrating the dangers of this tendency, a post here a few weeks ago dealt with a California motorist who pulled into a parking space at a Starbucks to make a call. A police officer pulled in next to him and wrote out a ticket. In order to legally talk on a hand-held cell phone in a car in California, apparently, you not only have to be parked, but the car must not be running!