[Phila. 'burb] Lower Chi[chester]'s cell-phone ban may be disconnected in court

Lower Chi is taking action to curtail driving while using a hand-held cell phone.

LOWER CHICHESTER --- If cars traveled through this township’s school zones as slowly as legislation moves through Harrisburg, Rocco Gaspari Jr. might not have felt compelled to pass an ordinance prohibiting the use of cellular telephones by motorists.

"It’s become clear looking at our police reports that people are driving under the influence of conversation," said Gaspari, president of the township’s Board of Commissioners. "If Harrisburg isn’t ready to protect the residents of Lower Chichester, we’re not going to wait until someone gets killed for them to act."

With a unanimous vote last Monday, Lower Chichester Commissioners joined a handful of municipalities in the commonwealth that have implemented hand-held cell phone bans for drivers. The law is the first of its kind in Delaware County.

"One of our crossing guards counted more than 100 drivers using cell phones near her post one day," Gaspari said. "And there was one driver who didn’t realize where she was until she came to a stop in the crosswalk. When she finally did stop, she was still talking away on her phone and completely unaware that she could have killed one of our kids."

Motorists found in violation of the ban can be fined up to $70. Similar ordinances, with varying penalties and enforcement triggers, are on the books in Conshohocken and West Conshohocken, Montgomery County, Lebanon and York, Pa.

Police, fire, ambulance and other emergency responders are not bound by the law.

"We are going to have a short grace period so our officers can decide how they want to enforce the ordinance," said Gaspari, whose brother, Thomas Gaspari, is the township’s police chief. "I hope the whole county and the whole state follow our lead."

Making that proposition more difficult is the fact that ordinances like Lower Chichester’s have not stood up in the courts.

"Faced with the same set of circumstances (as Lower Chichester officials), I would have reacted the exact same way," said state Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-160, of Upper Chichester. "But the reality is we don’t allow municipalities to override the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code."

That would explain why the first municipality in Pennsylvania that enacted a ban, Hilltown, Bucks County, had its ordinance struck down in 2000 by an appellate court.

"It really needs to be done at the state level," Barrar said. "You can’t have a hodgepodge of different ordinances in all these counties."

Attempts to prohibit or restrict cell phone use at the state level have gone nowhere fast. In November 2001, New York became the first -- and remains the only - state to pass a law that prohibits hand-held cell phone use while driving. "We’ve seen New York take a stand and New Jersey’s governor is prepared to sign a similar piece of legislation if he gets the opportunity," said Patricia Pena of Perkasie, Bucks County, whose 2-year-old daughter, Morgan Lee, was killed when a driver broadsided their car after blowing a stop sign while using his cellular phone.

"Pennsylvania is particularly lethargic when it comes to passing laws that have teeth," Pena said. "These local bans serve to raise awareness and I support what they are doing, but we need our state legislators to take action."

Barrar, state Rep. Gregory Vitali, D-166, of Haverford, and Pena’s state senator, Joseph Conti, R-10, all said evidence is lacking which proves cell phone use by drivers is more dangerous than other types of distracted driving. "I see people with dogs on their lap or a cup of coffee between their legs," Barrar said. "Some people eat, others look after their baby or put on make-up. There are a lot of different distractions out there which leads me to question why we need a new law for this one thing.

"I’ve said over and over that we should be enforcing the laws we already have that pertain to inattentive driving."

Conti is pushing a bill that would impose a $250 fine on drivers caught using hand-held phones. "More and more legislators are reconsidering their positions on this issue and pledging their support," he said. "Right now the penalties - a $25 fine for careless driving and $50 for reckless (driving) - are hardly commiserate with the potential consequences of an accident."

five year phase-in period would give Pennsylvanians plenty of time to purchase new equipment and become familiar with the technology. "I doubt very many people will still be holding their phones by then," he said.

The New York law makes driving with a hand-held cell phone an infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $100 per violation.

"I would oppose an outright ban in vehicles," said Vitali who, like Barrar and Conti, would be more comfortable supporting a bill that permits hands-free phone use. "Like any new item, there’s a learning curve with cell phones where you are more dangerous at first and become safer the more you use it."

Vitali, who uses a headset for calls in the car, said anything that takes your eyes and concentration off the road is a hazard. "The distraction could come as you dial up a number or when you go searching under the seat for a cassette tape or a road map."

Conshohocken Police Chief James Dougherty said his department has issued at least one ticket since a hand-held cell phone ban was passed in Feb. 2000. "We have enforced it once, possibly twice," he said. "That person was involved in an accident and paid a $1,000 fine."

Lower Chichester’s Gaspari isn’t looking to make a killing off his ordinance. He said he only wants to prevent one.

"Cars today have become like a second living room, with computers, televisions and phones," he said. "Our objective was to deter one major accident or prevent one death.

"It’s like the person who says, ‘Why put up a railroad crossing when nobody has been killed yet?’

"Well, this is one of those issues where you can’t wait for bad things to happen before you react."

The Daily Times also ran an editorial on this issue...

Editorial: Shouldn’t need cell-phone law ... but we do

January 27, 2003

Now, under the "If People Used their Common Sense We Wouldn’t Need a Law" category, we have motorists who insist on using their cellular phones while driving. Not at a stoplight, in a parking lot, by the roadside or even in a traffic jam - we’re talking, literally, while driving.

There are so many of those people traveling through Lower Chichester lately that the commissioners felt compelled last week to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the use of hand-held cell phones by motorists driving through the township.

State legislators maintain that such an ordinance can’t override the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code. They say no state law establishing a ban has been enacted because there is lack of evidence proving cell-phone use is more dangerous than other types of distracted driving.

It wouldn’t take a multi-million dollar study for them to collect the data to support such a law. We dare say officials in Delaware County’s 49 municipalities could corroborate the danger from just one afternoon’s observations.

In just one hour, a Lower Chichester crossing guard counted more than 100 motorists using cell phones while driving down Market Street.

"And there was one driver who didn’t realize where she was until she came to a stop in a crosswalk. When she finally did stop, she was still talking away on her phone and completely unaware that she could have killed one of our kids," noted Rocco Gaspari Jr., president of the Lower Chichester commissioners.

But you don’t have to go to Lower Chichester to see a near-miss situation caused by irresponsible cell-phone users.

In Morton, one woman almost broadsided another driver when she made a left turn against a red light while steering her mini-van with one hand and holding her cell phone in the other. She seemed oblivious to the accident she almost caused, continuing to gab away until she got to her doctor’s parking lot where, ironically, it would have been safe to talk on the phone.

In Ridley Township, a man actually brought his sports utility vehicle to a dead halt in the middle of Fairview Road during rush hour and stopped traffic while he made an illegal U-turn, talking all the while on his cell phone and steering with one hand.

State Sen. Joseph Conti, R-10, was inspired to sponsor a bill banning hand-held cell-phone use by drivers after the 2-year-old daughter of one of his Bucks County constituents was killed when her car was broadsided by a driver who missed a stop sign while using his cell phone.

But it’s not just a matter of having both hands on the wheel; it’s a matter of giving full attention to the road. Using hand-held phones would not be a problem if they were used while the vehicles were not in motion.

One of the beauties of a cell phone is its value in emergency situations that often involve calling for help after a traffic accident or when the car has broken down. A quick "I’m stuck in traffic" or "I’m running late" also isn’t unreasonable.

However, judging from the duration of conversations, we’d bet that most cell-phone use by motorists does not involve emergencies just as most cell-phone use by people in public places does not.

Who hasn’t been privy to much more information than they need from strangers using cell phones in grocery stores, on the street and in restaurants?

If we don’t learn about their love lives, digestive disorders and outrage over the latest episode of "Survivor," we learn about their best friends’ love lives, digestive disorders and reality-show reactions.

It’s rude and it’s intrusive and when someone driving a car is doing it, it’s potentially fatal.

The information-on-demand mentality, no matter how unimportant the information, is another symptom of a spoiled society in which people feel their needs and desires must be met immediately. Serious topics especially should not be the subject of cell-phone use in a car because they take even more of the driver’s attention away from the road.

Businessmen shouldn’t be brokering deals on the telephone while they’re behind the wheel and mom shouldn’t be discussing junior’s future with dad on the cell while chauffeuring the brood about town.

Clearly they do, however; not just in Delaware County, but nationwide.

Ordinances similar to Lower Chichester’s ban on cell-phone use by drivers have been enacted in four other Pennsylvania municipalities. It’s state law in New York and may soon become state law in New Jersey.

We support a Pennsylvania law banning the use of a cell phone -- hand-held or with a headset -- while the vehicle is moving. Either way the driver’s concentration is compromised.

And to those who think they’re so indispensable that the world won’t rotate without uninterrupted access to them - get over yourselves!

Any FReepers have cell phone horror stories to share?

foreverfree

(who has three grandparents and two cousins buried in the same cemetery in Lower Chi, just a few yards from the DE border)

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