2 <p>At least he's not <em>texting</em> while driving.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.robertzadek.com/">Robert Zadek</a>, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, has a Web site with a <a href="http://www.robertzadek.com/mission.html">mission statement</a>, a <a href="http://www.robertzadek.com/biography.html">biography</a> and details on <a href="http://www.robertzadek.com/issues.html">his platform</a>. In many ways, it's a standard-looking site for an aspiring elected official.<br /><br />Except in one respect: There's <a href="http://www.robertzadek.com/contact.html">a picture of him</a> in a car, with one hand on the steering wheel and the other &mdash; yes &mdash; holding a cell phone to his ear.<br /><br />And the trees outside Zadek's driver window are blurry, so it's pretty clear he hasn't parked the Jeep on the side of the road to talk.</p> <div class="column span-15 small quiet"><img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/cdnassets/assets/7750/contact_image_col15.jpg" alt="" style="width: 590px;" /><br />Robert Zadek holds a cell phone to his ear while driving. Credit: Robert Zadek for U.S. Senate</div> <p>Appropriately enough, the picture's on his contact page, so I thought he'd be available even if he was on the road. But he doesn't list his cell-phone number on his campaign Web site.</p> <p>So I called him at home and lat <script type="text/javascript" src="../../javascripts/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js?1257818697"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="../../javascripts/tiny_mce/plugins/example/langs/en.js?1257818697"></script> er e-mailed Zadek <script type="text/javascript" src="../../javascripts/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js?1257818697"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="../../javascripts/tiny_mce/plugins/example/langs/en.js?1257818697"></script> to ask about this and a few other things about his campaign &mdash; he's got an <a href="http://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionInformation/CandList.aspx?id=28">objection pending</a> on his filing papers from a Raymond True &mdash; but I haven't heard back from him yet.<br /><br />Zadek, a Rockford businessman, doesn't list experience in elected office, so it's tough to tell where he would stand on talking-while-driving legislation. But judging from his flat-tax proposal and support for the Second Amendment, I'm tempted to think he's a fan of limited government.<br /><br />While legislators in Illinois haven't banned talking while driving, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/08/06/illinois.texting.ban/">they did</a> prohibit texting while driving this year. They have also approved <a href="http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=096-0131">amendments </a>to the state vehicle code, effective in January, that ban <em>talking</em> on phones in school or construction zones.</p> <p>Chicago has a ban on talking on cell phones while driving. Lucky for Zadek, Rockford does not.</p> <p>"You can do it here," Rockford Police Department Patrol Sgt. Patrick Hoey told me. He explained that the city's residents did away with home rule in the 1980s, so they wouldn't be able to ordain a ban on cell-phone use even if they wanted one.</p> <p>"We're a little community, so we have to follow state law," Hoey said. "It's whatever the state legislature decides to do with that."<br /><br />In California, First Lady Maria Shriver had an embarrassing moment when <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/14/maria.shriver.cell.phone/">someone caught her</a> breaking a talking-while-driving ban supported by her husband, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger.</p> <p>Concern over cell-phone use hit a fever pitch this year, as the <a href="http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</a> released a report that, its researchers say, was held back to avoid antagonizing politicians in Congress.</p> <p>The report showed that cell-phone use by drivers caused around 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents over all in 2002. The New York Times published <a href="http://documents.nytimes.com/documents-from-the-u-s-department-of-transportation-s-national-highway-traffic-safety-administration#p=1">the research</a> a couple of days before the agency publicized it.</p> 2009-11-17T09:00:00-06:00 0 30763 1 245 2 TalkingwhiledrivingItsasenatorialskill 1 U.S. Senate candidate Robert Zadek doesn't try to hide his multitasking. 2 496