From Deseret News archives:
Anderson signs cell-phone ban
Salt Lake City employees can't talk on them or text while driving
Mayor Rocky Anderson signed an executive order Monday prohibiting employees from using city-provided cell phones while driving. Employees also may not talk on a personal cell phone or send text messages while driving on city business. Anderson's spokesman Patrick Thronson said the prohibition was prompted in part by a series of motor-vehicle fatalities in the city that involved cell phones.
One accident happened last month, when 17-year-old Lauren Mulkey was hit and killed by a driver talking on a cell phone. Mulkey's mother attended an event Monday morning where Anderson signed the ban.
"This is about making travel safe for everyone on Salt Lake City streets and encouraging responsible behavior in each of our own lives," Thronson said. "Clearly, talking on a cell phone while driving poses a safety risk to oneself and to others. Some studies found that it reduces a person's reaction time by as much as 30 percent."
The ban is effective immediately and applies to all "cellular devices," including hands-free phones. It does not apply to Salt Lake City law enforcement officials, City Council members or their staff. Another exception was granted to employees who use their cell phones to report an emergency.
The ban would be enforced "as something people would understand is part of working for Salt Lake City Corporation," Thronson said. Violators would be subject to disciplinary action from their individual department heads, he said.
In 2005, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon signed a similar cell-phone ban for county employees. In imposing the ban, Corroon said, "Protecting the public is government's number one priority," and using a cell phone while driving can increase a person's risk of accidents.
In drafting Salt Lake City's cell-phone ban, Anderson had considered prohibiting all drivers in the city limits from talking on their cell phones. But in 2006, state legislators passed a bill that prohibits cities from restricting cell-phone use of the general driving public. If that law weren't in place, "the mayor would advocate an ordinance prohibiting all drivers from using cellular phones," Anderson's executive order states.
The Utah Highway Patrol says no state laws exist to stop people from driving while talking on a cell phone. During the last legislative session, lawmakers debated a bill to prohibit motorists under age 18 from calling or text messaging while driving. Violators would have been fined $25 or more, and insurance points would have been added to their driving records.
The bill never came to a vote during the last night of the session.
Meanwhile, other cities and states across the nation have imposed cell-phone bans as a way to protect public safety. In 1999, Brooklyn, Ohio became the first city in the United States to ban cell phones while driving. Four states — California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York — as well as the District of Columbia have since followed suit.
A number of other nations also have bans, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Kenya, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia.
Thronson said Anderson is hopeful his ban will have a ripple effect and encourage people to hang up while driving.
"We're working on ways to partner with the business community and with individuals in the community to encourage this at a grass-roots level and get people to voluntarily discontinue cell phone use," Thronson said.
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com
