Officials won't review cell phone use

One commissioner encourages another look at a ban on handheld phones while driving. Others say now is not the time.

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 9, 2001

LARGO -- Buoyed by Miami-Dade County's recent decision to limit the use of cell phones while driving, City Commissioner Marty Shelby has asked his colleagues to take another look at the issue.

Apparently, there isn't much support for the idea.

Last week, Shelby sent to Largo commissioners a newspaper article reporting Miami-Dade's decision last month to bar drivers from using handheld cell phones. In a short memo, Shelby asked any commissioner interested in pursuing some regulations on cell phone use to notify the mayor's secretary.

Mayor Bob Jackson was the only commissioner to reply, sending a one-sentence statement suggesting it is a matter that should be pursued by the Pinellas County Commission. Other city commissioners echoed the mayor's thoughts.

But County Commission Chairman Calvin Harris said Monday afternoon restricting cell phone use is not a matter that the county plans to review any time soon.

"I know people talking on cell phones as they drive is perceived as a problem," said Harris. "But I'm not sure if it is something we need to take a look at right now."

Shelby said he has no immediate plans to discuss the matter with commissioners, but he hoped city commissioners would seriously consider the idea. If such a measure were approved, Largo would be the first city in Pinellas to pass an ordinance regulating cell phones while driving.

"I don't know what's going to happen. I just wanted to bring up the issue," Shelby said Monday.

Shelby's interest in setting rules on cell phone use stems from the many accidents caused by motorists preoccupied with dialing a number or fumbling their phone and not paying attention to the road. Shelby first asked city officials to explore the possibility of a handheld cell phone ban last year, but city attorneys responded that such an ordinance might not hold up in the courts.

Shelby raised the matter again in late July after New York became the first state to ban the use of handheld cell phones while driving and state Attorney General Bob Butterworth wrote an opinion suggesting a city could pass such an ordinance. City Attorney Alan Zimmet wrote a memo in early August saying that state courts are not bound by such opinions and that the ordinance might be rejected by a judge.

Shelby's idea ignited strong debate among residents.

Sixty percent of the 68 readers who responded to a recent St. Petersburg Times invitation to share their opinions said they favor the ban. Another 25 percent said they were against a city ban, although many said they would support a countywide or a statewide law against talking while driving. And 15 percent expressed ambivalence about the idea, or their views on the question were unclear.

Although several city commissioners said they were uncomfortable with Largo passing rules on cell phones, Commissioner Jean Halvorsen thought Shelby's suggestion had some merit.

"There are ways of doing it without taking it away," Halvorsen said of equipment that allows motorists to drive safely while talking on their phones.

Shelby said he understood the potential difficulty of enforcing restrictions on cell phone use in Largo, but he points to Miami-Dade County's vote to show that his idea is gathering momentum.

"I think it's a trend that's taking hold," he said.

-- Information from Times wires was used in this report.

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