Drivers told to hang up when driving in Detroit

Detroit motorists will have to hang up their hand-held cell phones while driving if Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick signs a ban approved Wednesday by the Detroit City Council.

The council voted 8-1 to fine drivers $100 if they are caught using a cell phone while driving. Talking on a hands-free phone will be allowed, and drivers who can prove they were making an emergency call will get a pass.

"I think cell phones should be banned. People are too comfortable with them. They'll use them anywhere. It's rude and it puts people's lives at risk," said Kylie Johnson, 27, who lives and works in downtown Detroit. "People are in danger on the roads."

But Christina Paskas of Grosse Pointe, Mich., who works downtown, wondered if Detroit has enough problems without worrying about pulling over drivers for talking on the phone.

"Let's face it: People do a lot of work in their car. People multi-task. ... I don't see how it'll be enforced," Paskas said. "What happens if you don't realize you just drove into Detroit?"

Marty Bandemer, head of the Detroit Police Officers Association, wasn't convinced, either.

"Right now, with the department's shortage of manpower, I don't think it will be a priority on police officers' enforcement list," Bandemer said.

The mayor's office said Wednesday that Kilpatrick was considering the proposal.

Other states and cities have similar bans, the mayor noted in a prepared statement. "We will examine how effective those bans have been before we make our final decision."

If he signs it, Detroit would join Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York state, Connecticut, New Jersey and a host of nations in outlawing at least some cell phone use by drivers. But it would be Michigan's first municipality to order a ban.

While some suburbs, such as Shelby and Clinton townships, let police ticket drivers for being "distracted," they don't ban cell phone use specifically.

Detroit council members cited public safety in adopting the measure. A recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that nearly 80 percent of crashes occur within seconds of some sort of driver distraction. The study found that reaching for a moving object multiplied the risk of i crash by nine times.

The study also showed that using hands-free devices — which would remain legal under the Detroit plan — was almost equally as dangerous as using hand-held phones. The study indicated using a cell phone behind the wheel is a key cause of traffic accidents.