In my first reporting job, in 1979 in Fort Lauderdale, our bureau was filled with 20something reporters. We had a Friday ritual. We would leave work about 5, go to the store next door, buy six-packs of beer and then drive to someone's house for a party. Always, the driver cracked open a beer, too, and merrily drank all the way to the party, sometimes a half hour's drive away.

I think to those days and wonder how we ever dared to do that. But it was an accepted part of the culture then.

With the annoucement yesterday that the National Transportation Safety Board is proposing a ban on texting and cell phone talking for all drivers, I wonder if it will seem as strange 30 years from now that once drivers texted and talked while driving.

The ban on drinking and driving has saved lives; so, too, should a ban on DWT -- Driving while texting.

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