Abilene Cell Phone Ban Unlikely For Now, As Long As Drivers Put The Phone Down
More Texas cities are banning the use of cell
phones while driving. Tuesday morning, an Amarillo City Commission voted 4-1 to
restrict the use of hand held devices for drivers. Mayor of Abilene Norm
Archibald says while the idea hasn't been brought up in Abilene just yet, he'd
like to see drivers all make a collective effort to stay safe.
By: Katie Thompson
Updated: September 19, 2012
While its not likely to happen anytime soon, the
mayor of Abilene says if drivers don't get the message that texting behind the
wheel isn't safe...lawmakers will have no choice but to take some sort of
action.
"If we have more and more accidents involving
texting and driving and cell phone use, i can see not only would it be
something that the cities would approach, but the state of Texas would," the
Mayor said.
The idea hasn't been brought to the table just
yet, but it could.
Last week an Amarillo city commission voted 4-1 to
approve an all out ban of using handheld devices while driving.
If caught, police can fine a driver up to 2
hundred dollars.
Abilene police say they notice distracted drivers
all the time.
"Without a doubt, the motor vehicle crashes
that we investigate weekly involve some form of driver distraction," says
Abilene assistant chief of police Doug Wrenn.
But, they're not convinced an all out ban is the
solution right now.
"I would say it's so prevalent that we would
not be able to keep up with the demands of actual enforcement of such a law,"
Wrenn said.
So what can be done? Mayor Archibald says the first step, is a citywide
effort to put down the phone, and pay attention.
"The best thing is to educate yourself and commit not to text and drive. And if that happened alone, with true commitment, then I think were going to see less lives lost, less property damage because of accidents and wrecks, and were a better society because were educating ourselves."
