Measure would halt city, county cell-phone bans

Cities and counties may no longer be able to turn chatty drivers into criminals.

Scattershot bans on talking on a cell phone while driving local government vehicles would not be allowed under HB423, which passed the House Government Operations Committee 7-1 Wednesday. Allowing cities to set their own rules leads to confusion, said Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, the bill's sponsor, and can lead to drivers unwittingly being ticketed for breaking a law they did not even know existed.

While the committee did not tackle the thornier issue of whether cell phones and steering wheels go together, supporters of the bill agreed that it should be done on a statewide basis. Otherwise, even well-intentioned people may find themselves on the wrong side of law enforcement.

"We need to make sure we don't make laws that are so confusing that people need to get a legal briefing every time they leave the house," Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, said. "We need to be careful that we are not putting people in an entrapment environment."