Well, I did it again. Took my arguments to the Shawnee City Council last night.
Would love to see Shawnee take the lead on this in the metro area. What do I want? Cell phone use while driving is only permitted with a hands free device. Texting while driving needs to be outlawed.
After talking with various members of law enforcement the above would apply to all ages. It would be too difficult to make visual age observations.
Mickey Sandifer, Ward 4 Council Rep, brought up GPS units. He questioned whether or not they would be as troublesome as cell phones and texting. They probably would. Ironically, in today's business section of the KC Star the following item from Steve Rosen was published:
"Legislation aimed at manual operation of GPS devices while driving has been introduced in New Jersey. The bill specifies that only a voice activated GPS may be programmed while driving. Violators would face a $100 fine, the same as anyone caught in New Jersey text messaging or using a hand held cell phone while driving."
Anyway, hopefully maybe one member of the council will try and make this an agenda item for one of the council committees. That would then allow staff to do some follow up research on cities that have enacted their own ordinances. It would be interesting to see how that has affected driving habits, its effect on accidents, and even its effect on the treasuries of those municipalities. Heck, I believe Chicago's fine is $250. Whatever it is, it has to be a major boost to their treasury.
