Talking on the phone while driving is no different than having a conversation with someone who is in the car with you, or listening to Rush or singing along with the music on the radio. Looking up phone numbers, dialing, texting, all of those things divert you eyes from the road and should be avoided.I agree, though talking on a cell phone while driving a stick-shift in the city is rather cumbersome as well. A hands-free setup is great for that.
I think that if there were a phone number display up near the speedometer and a set of thumb paddle-buttons on the steering wheel for scrolling ones' phone list, dialing a call would be pretty safe as well.
My idea of a steering wheel / keyboard for us touch-typists probably wouldn't go over so big. :-)
Stick shift has it's own set of problems. My new Tahoe has a feature where I can have hands free telephone usage but I haven't set it up yet. I have all of my frequently called numbers set to one number and the pound sign, so I can punch them in with only a glance. I would not make any calls while driving otherwise.