I’m in New York this week, and I just learned that cabbies in the city can now be fined for talking on their phones while driving. Hasn’t changed the habits of many cabbies, despite a really aggressive enforcement program. But it reminds me of the recent spate of articles about new evidence that distracted driving may be as dangerous as drunken driving. Check out the coverage at The New York Times, by Matt Richtel. He’s making a case so strong that the mobile phone industry may someday have a problem as big as Big Tobacco. And that’s because no mobile phone company thus far has stepped up to a position of responsible leadership on this emerging issue.

But the mobile phone companies are not the only ones failing to meet the challenge. Next are all the car companies, many which have responded to the debate by equipping their cars with hands-free audio systems. As Richtel notes, there’s good data suggesting that hands-free car talk may be even more dangerous than hand-to-the-phone for it lulls people into a false sense of security; you may be just as likely to get distracted on a hands-free system.

Of course, neither phone companies nor car companies can be expected to rush to the mantle of “thought leadership.” On the face of it, it’s bad business for these companies to speak out against distracted driving. There are phones to be sold — with the smart ones decisively outpacing the “dumb” ones — minutes to be sold, data plans to be sold, and yes, cars to be sold that are better equipped with the latest and greatest in safety features, including hands-free, which many consumers see as the state-of-the-art. But I’m waiting for at least one company to break from the pack before the inevitable happens, when consumers themselves come to the obvious realization that they too should speak up about distracted driving. This is the post-2.0 era, where so many issues cannot or will not wait for a brand to the lead the conversation. But from my perspective — the perspective of a communications consultant who advises companies on both their opportunities and duties in public affairs — it really doesn’t matter who speaks up first. We are all guilty parties to this affair. Who among us has never picked up a phone behind the wheel and dialled or texted or emailed or taken a photo, all the while knowing that it’s reckless — perhaps criminal — to do so when operating a one-plus ton piece of machinery on wheels? Like drunk driving, distracted driving may have to claim more lives before we all care enough to take serious action. Hope we will not have to wait long this time around. But device addiction, like many other post-2.0 consumer behavior, is rooted in a great need to stay connected, in a world that demands we stay connected. This is not going to be easy.