At the Town Council meeting on January 25, 2010, I petitioned the council to open discussions about prohibiting hand held cell phone usage while driving in Chapel Hill.  I also proposed that the town hold a public forum on this topic where concerned citizens can express their opinions about this issue.  Since the election I have heard from many citizens who feel that it is becoming increasingly dangerous to drive in Chapel Hill because people are not paying attention to the road. The problem is particularly bad on campus.

Currently, there is no ban on handheld cell phone use while driving in North Carolina, though drivers under 18 and school bus drivers are banned from all cell phone use while driving, and all drivers are banned from texting while driving.  Local jurisdictions in North Carolina may or may not need specific state statutory authority to ban cell phones. This is a question that town attorney Ralph Karpinos would pose to the NC legislative body if Chapel Hill chooses to go forward with a ban.Throughout the country there are 7 States that ban hand held cell phone use while driving. Six states allow localities to ban cell phone use while driving and 11 jurisdictions in those states have done so. Localities are prohibited from banning cell phone use in 8 states.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 6:03 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.