Charlotte City Council Dialing Up Cellphone Ban
A proposal to outlaw the use of cellphones and hands-free cellphone devices while driving within Charlotte city limits has been forwarded to the city council’s community safety committee for review and possible recommendation for approval by the full council.
The proposal’s referral to committee gained unanimous endorsement from councilmembers last month after Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Cannon, a Democrat who chairs the council’s community safety committee, floated the idea to explore an ordinance that would ban the use of hand-held cellphones while driving.
“People will have this phone right here,” Cannon said, holding a cellphone to the side of his face and looking around the dais during the council’s meeting last month. “They’re looking to make a right turn and they’re easing up to that stop sign and they don’t see what’s happening over here, what might be oncoming pedestrian traffic or what have you.”
Councilmember Michael Barnes, a Democrat and ranking member of the community safety committee, dialed it up a notch. He said any potential ban should include outlawing the use of both cellphones and also any hands-free cellphone devices while driving.
“According to some of the studies I’ve read, the issue is where your mind is as opposed to where your hands are,” Barnes said. “So I think we should actually explore an ordinance that would outlaw the use of those devices in vehicles, except in emergency situations.”
The council apparently agreed, voting unanimously to direct the community safety committee to begin looking at ways to create and enforce an ordinance to outlaw the use of cellphones and hands-free cellphone devices while driving.
“You brought it up,” Barnes said to Cannon. “Let’s go all the way.”
It might be a bumpy ride. Chapel Hill, which in March became the first municipality in North Carolina to ban the use of cellphones and hands-free devices while driving, has seen a Superior Court judge impose an injunction to delay enforcement of the ordinance, which was scheduled to go into effect June 1.
And it’s not the first slap outside forces have taken at the ordinance. This from the N&O:
When asked last year whether the town had the statutory authority to regulate cell phone use while driving in town limits, Assistant Attorney General Jess Mekeel was succinct.
“No,” he wrote.
In a Nov. 2, letter, Mekeel said the town may not regulate activity in a field where the state intends to provide “a complete and integrated regulatory scheme.” He cited the state’s existing ban on cell phone use by drivers under 18 and school bus drivers, as well as its ban on anyone reading email or texting while driving.
The benefit of having uniform rules across municipalities also weighs against the town’s enacting a local ban, he said.
Chapel Hill town attorney Ralph Karpinos offered a different opinion, writing in a memo to town councilmembers that, “the Town’s general police power, its authority over Town streets and rights of way, and the provisions of North Carolina motor vehicle law would permit the Town to enact regulations over the use of cell phones and similar devices by operators of motor vehicles in motion on the Town’s streets, upon the Town Council’s finding evidence demonstrating that such regulations would address conditions determined to be detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of the Town’s citizens.”
Charlotte City Attorney Bob Hagemann said that while he was aware of the Superior Court injunction and Mekeel’s opinion, it was too early to say what impact they might have on Charlotte’s consideration of a cellphone ban. Hagemann said his office would be monitoring the litigation in Chapel Hill, as well as reviewing any applicable legal cases.
“We’ll do the research and provide any advice and assistance as necessary to the council’s community safety committee as they move forward,” Hagemann said.
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