Three members of the Guy family from Paris escaped serious injuries this week following an accident that underscores a pressing need to review Maine laws regarding cellular phones and driving.

Gary Guy, while driving, was talking on his cell phone to brother Luke Guy, who was a passenger in their father William’s pickup. Both were traveling on Paris Hill Road; police said the brothers were discussing their locations on the road when their vehicles crashed head-on. All three were hospitalized.

In 2002, Maine was a national trailblazer in prohibiting cell phone use by drivers with provisional licenses. Since then, other states have passed more restrictive legislation, such as New York and Connecticut, which have outlawed all cell phone conversations unless drivers use hands-free devices.

This year, a unique study that followed 100 drivers for one year found that 65 percent of crashes, and 80 percent of near-crashes, occurred because of temporary driver distraction, with the most frequent culprit a cell phone call, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

And in 2006, three more states – Rhode Island, North Carolina and West Virginia – enacted laws against hand-held use of cell phones while driving, bringing the national total to 14.

Maine once led the nation in restricting cell phone use behind the wheel. Lawmakers now have that chance again, as myriad studies and near-tragedies such as in Paris provide ample foundation to re-examine Maine’s cell phone laws.