Talking with your phone because driving is boring as shit is fairly harmless

It really isn't. Driving while distracted by a phone conversation is comparable in safety to driving while heavily intoxicated or while barely awake. This is not a hypothetical. There is actual experimental research behind it and the evidence is consistent and overwhelming. There is no justification and no defence. It's not a debate. It kills people.

Everyone is right in saying that those drivers should take public transport instead if they want to work or call or play a game while they are on the move. And yes - maybe in time there will be self-driving options that will make the whole issue obsolete. But right now anyone driving but not paying full attention is a danger to themselves and others and this is not something we should condone or attempt to justify. It kills people.