When we first saw the GoSmart clip, we thought somebody was playing a joke on us. The very idea of strapping a phone to your steering wheel so it's right in front of you, all the handier for staying connected on the go, well, it had to be a gag. Right?

Wrong. For $25.95, you can get a GoSmart clip of your own, in your choice of red or black. Or you can go for one of each for $39.95. Adjustable to fit a variety of phones, you simply connect it to the top of your steering wheel using an elastic strap, clip in your phone, and you're good to go.

Targeting multi-taskers, the GoSmart people reason that if you're going to be using your phone behind the wheel anyway, it might as well be easy to see and access. We think that anything designed to ease the use of a phone's keypad while driving is a bad idea.

In fairness, the online FAQ warns against texting while driving; recommends using a Bluetooth headset when answering the phone; and cautions against having the phone connected to a charger cord while mounted. And, GoSmart says if your mounted phone blocks important gauges when at the top of the wheel, move it to somewhere between the 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock position. Still, the very nature of the product and installation demonstration encourage dangerous usage.

They also say the steering wheel is a handy place to have the phone if you're using it for navigation. Possibly, but it's just as bad an idea to input destinations while driving as it is to text. And mounting a phone on the wheel won't just increase the risk of distraction, it'll likely block the view of your instruments. A windshield mount puts the screen just a quick glance away, and really, you should be listening to directions more than looking at the screen, anyway.

As bad an idea as the GoSmart clip for automotive use may be (some other applications appear less hazardous), the entrepreneurial spirit marches on, and somebody else with sly humor has posted a gag device to fasten the much-larger Apple iPad to a steering wheel. A YouTube demo video touts how the mount takes advantage of the way an iPad screen rotates so you can still read it while turning the wheel. Neat. But what about reading the gauges? What happens when the air bag deploys at high velocity? And more importantly, what if people are inspired by this understated parody to do something similar themselves? Clearly, if you spend enough time searching the Internet, you can find most anything.

For those who wish to use an iPhone or other smart phone for navigation, there are product-specific and universal mounts available for use on the dashboard or windshield. Plus, there are iPhone mounts from Magellan, TomTom, and others that augment the phone with an external speaker and built-in GPS receiver for greater accuracy.

In 2009, 5,474 people were killed on our nation's highways due to distracted driving. And that number has been on the rise, even as highway fatalities overall have been declining. What is needed to reduce deaths from distracted drivers is not more devices that encourage distracted driving. What is needed is for all of us to just hang up and drive.