We use cell phones everyday and often while we are driving. So should everyone be allowed to make calls while behind the wheel, especially if they are paid to drive others around? Our viewers put together a list of people who make their living on the roads and wondered who might be violating company policy by dialing while driving. The answers I found for them are the subject of this Fact Finder.

Almost every company or organization that puts drivers out of the road everyday has some sort of policy when it comes to cell phone use. The range is extraordinary at least in terms of what is covered in the handbooks. Of course, while some employees oblige, not everyone follows the guidelines entirely and others completely dismiss them. We get emails all the time in the newsroom from viewers reporting that they have seen a driver using a cell phone in an official vehicle and wondered if they were allowed to being doing that. So I did a little research, requesting the cell phone policies from 8 different organizations here in Northern Michigan. Only 5 openly provided with their word for word description of acceptable cell phone practices by their drivers.

Let's start with TCAPS, and the drivers who make sure our kids get safely to and from school. TCAPS policy when it comes to cell phone use by bus drivers is pretty straight forward. TCAPS runs more than 100 busses a day, and those drivers log more than 10,000 miles per day. According to their transportation handbook: If the bus isn't moving, drivers can call away, but "the use of cell phones or other electronic devices by drivers while the bus is in motion is strictly prohibited." So if you see a TCAPS school bus stopped, and the driver is using a cell phone, that is within the guidelines of acceptable use.

Speaking of busses, how about the Bay Area Transportation Authority? According to BATA, they don't have a formal policy, but they did tell me that "using electronic devices, including cell phones, while operating a BATA vehicle is a violation of our work rules. Employees found violating this work rule are disciplined according to our progressive discipline guidelines."

From busses to snow plows; every road commission is different, but at the Grand Traverse County commission cell the cell phone policy is one of the most detailed of any place I checked.

Here is it:

"The use of personal cell phones is prohibited during working hours and may not be kept in a county vehicle.

In some cases, the Road Commission may issue a mobile/cell phone to you. For the safety and convenience of employees, "hands-free" units must be used in vehicles while conducting Road Commission business. It is a violation of company policy and outside the scope of an employee's authority to use a mobile/cell phone while driving without utilizing the "hands-free" equipment. If hands-free equipment is not available, the vehicle must be safely pulled to the side of the road or a parking lot and out of the way of pedestrians and vehicular traffic."

What about first responders? Again like road commission, every organization has their own set of rules, primarily based on what their crews use cells for. Some use them to actually conduct their business and so using them while driving is allowed. North Flight Ambulance Service's policy hinges on the situation. Here is what they provided me:

"The following guidelines were established to promote safe driving and providing quality patient care among all North Flight employees:

1. All North Flight employees are prohibited from receiving or making any personal incoming or outgoing cellular phone calls (personal and/or North Flight business-related) while providing patient care, except to call the hospital to provide patient reports.

2. North Flight employee drivers will at no time be permitted to make or receive any cellular phone calls while responding to emergent or transporting patients, except in the event of an emergency.

3. North Flight employee passengers are recommended to make or receive any necessary North Flight business-related phone calls.

4. North Flight employees are prohibited from text messaging while driving an ambulance and/or providing patient care."

Now they are not drivers, but making these phone calls made me wonder, so I contacted the Federal Aviation Administration. Does it have a cell phone policy or recommendation for pilots?

Here is what they told me:

"There are a variety of different rules for different types of pilots. Air transport pilots (fly passenger jets, like United, American), must maintain a "sterile cockpit" during critical phases of flight, which means no extraneous conversation or distractions are allowed. You may wish to check with the airlines, as they may have additional rules for their employees. Private pilots, who fly small, private aircraft, find smart phones are advantageous, as they can pull up aeronautical charts and additional navigational information on those devices. In the old days, a pilot of a small, private aircraft had to fold and unfold large charts as he or she went, which could create even more of a distraction. Today, these types of pilots can find specific information easily on their smart phones. Of course, pilots of larger jets have this information on their cockpit computers."

So what do you think? Do these guidelines go far enough? Are they fair? Should any or all of these drivers be allowed to use their cells while driving? Let me know by leaving a comment below.