Bay State lawmakers are considering a number of bills that would make the use of hand-held cell phones and similar communications devices illegal while driving. Yet turn on the TV and you'll see ads for motor vehicles stocked with all sorts of devices that might distract the driver. There's something wrong with this picture.

The fact is that the simple act of tuning a radio can result in an accident, yet today many vehicles are loaded with everything from DVD players to GPS devices to computer ports. This is not something for the Legislature to address on its own; we've got to get Detroit, Washington and the American public involved as well.

We agree that it's absolutely foolish for people to be sending or reading text messages - identified as the cause of a couple of fatal accidents on Massachusetts roadways last year - while behind the wheel. But we've observed people reading, even doing crossword puzzles, while trying to keep one eye on the road.

Unfortunately, no law can turn bad drivers into responsible ones. And it seems a fruitless exercise to try to separate people from their favorite electronic devices, even when they're in the car.

We could stop drunken driving by making the consumption of alcohol illegal. But banning alcohol was tried once - it was called Prohibition - and it didn't work.

The best approach, in our view, would be to increase the penalties - jail time, higher insurance rates, loss of license, etc. - for negligent operation, to the point the vast majority of drivers will decide it's more important to pay attention to the road than answer that incoming text message.