Australia is not ready to embrace a push to ban all mobile phone use, including hands-free, in cars despite the move gaining momentum in the United States, according to a report in the Age newspaper.

America's National Safety Council has called for an all-out ban on using mobile phones while driving, following studies that show hands-free phones pose as much danger as hand-held ones.

"There is a huge misperception with the public that it's OK if they are using a hands-free phone," said Janet Froetscher, the council's president.

"It's the same challenge we had with seatbelts and drunk-driving — we've got to get people thinking the same way about cell phones."

Brian Negus, RACV's general manger of public policy, said several studies had been conducted in this area but "the difference between hand-held and hands-free is still a matter for conjecture".

What was not in doubt was that any phone use in a car was a distraction.

Mr Negus said the Government had acknowledged this by banning learner drivers and P1 probationary drivers from using any kind of mobile phone while driving.

He said an RACV study of under-25s last year had found that 31 per cent had seen drivers sending text messages, while 34 per cent had seen drivers talking on hand-held phones.

Samantha Cockfield, the Traffic Accident Commission's manager of road safety, like Mr Negus, said drivers should minimise anything that caused distractions while driving.

"No phone call is so important that it cannot wait a few minutes until you pull over," Ms Cockfield said.

Kristie Young, a research fellow at the Monash University Accident Research Centre, said several studies had linked mobile phone use to driver risk.

"Certainly, research has shown that there is a risk with hands-free," Ms Young said.

She believed it would be hard to police any law that banned the use of hands-free phones in cars.

An AMTA spokesman reminded all drivers that using a legal hands-free mobile phone while driving is not appropriate in all driving circumstances.

“We stress that although a hands-free device can reduce the physical effort to make and receive calls, drivers should avoid making calls in adverse traffic, road or weather conditions and avoid complex or emotional conversations. Safety is the most important call drivers can make,” he said.

“While technology can address physical and visual factors, education and awareness is required to address cognitive factors. Therefore, the most useful action governments can take is to help educate drivers about the appropriate use of mobile telecommunications products in vehicles.

“AMTA has urged governments to take the ‘education’ path on all driving distractions and has offered to partner governments in such a campaign.”

AMTA’s driving safety tips are widely used by fleet owners and motoring organisations and can be viewed under consumer tips at www.amta.org.au

The spokesman said mobile phones are only one of the many distractions faced by drivers and all potential distractions must be considered.

An American Automobile Association study analysed more than 32,000 traffic accidents caused by various driver distractions and found drivers were most often distracted by something outside their vehicle (29.4 percent), followed by adjusting a radio or CD player (11.4 percent), talking with other occupants (10.9 percent), adjusting vehicle or climate controls (2.8 percent), eating or drinking (1.7 percent), mobile phones (1.5 percent) and smoking (0.9 percent).

Recent Australian research, conducted by Monash University’s Accident Research Centre (MUARC), also found the effects of distraction were more pronounced during car stereo tasks than during hands-free mobile phone tasks.