NEXT time your blood pressure is sent through the roof by the oncoming hazard of a motorist sweeping imperiously around a corner, one hand on the wheel, the other attached to the umbilical cord of the mobile telephone, lower the pulse rate with the thought that you could be witnessing just another pathetic manifestation of social inadequacy.

A press report from Chile this week tells of a one-day spot check by police in Santiago against motorists using mobile phones while the vehicle was in motion. Of the 49 drivers apprehended, over a third were found to be just pretending to talk, using fake phones made of plastic and wood. "I was only doing it to look better," one embarrassed driver told police. A remark which, even for many users of the real thing, says it all.