San Angelo to Consider Ban on Texting-While-Driving

 

The San Angelo City Council discussed the idea of creating a ban on texting-while-driving at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Councilman Rodney Fleming introduced the idea.

“I have two kids who are about to get their driver’s license, so it made me think, 'what about this texting and driving thing?' So I started researching it and I found out through research that there are already 40 cities that have texting-and-driving and talking ordinances on the books,” Fleming said.

People who are not paying attention, Fleming said, quoting from research he had accomplished on the issue, cause about 25 percent of all accidents.

Councilwoman Charlotte Farmer agreed.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Grindstaff asked to know what the San Angelo Chief of Police thought about it.

But before Chief Tim Vasquez approached the podium, Mayor Morrison offered a spirited statement about there being too many laws.

Here are the Texas cities with texting and driving prohibitions, according to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT):

  1. Alamo
  2. Alice
  3. Amarillo
  4. Aransas Pass
  5. Arlington (DFW)
  6. Austin
  7. Bellaire (Houston)
  8. Brownsville
  9. Canyon
  10. Conroe (Houston)
  11. Converse (DFW)
  12. Corpus Christi
  13. Denton (DFW)
  14. El Paso
  15. Farmers Branch (DFW)
  16. Galveston
  17. Grand Prairie (DFW)
  18. Harlingen
  19. Helotes
  20. Laredo 
  21. Magnolia (Houston)
  22. Maypearl
  23. McAllen
  24. Meadowlakes
  25. Mission
  26. Missouri City (Houston)
  27. Mount Vernon
  28. Nacogdoches
  29. Palmview
  30. Pampa
  31. Penitas
  32. Richwood
  33. Rowlett (DFW)
  34. San Antonio
  35. Shoreacres
  36. Sinton
  37. Stephenville
  38. Tomball (Houston)
  39. Universal City
  40. West University Place (Houston)

The mayor mentioned that Governor Greg Abbott said that Texas was suffering from “Californication” where, according to Mother Jones magazine, urban city councils with armies of elected left-wing politicians are enacting a patchwork of laws to control unwanted behavior. Mother Jones reported that Abbott said these laws are “a nasty ‘form of collectivism'" that could "turn the Texas miracle into the California nightmare".

“Why don’t we wait and let the state legislature deal with this, and make it a Texas ordinance. And then the cities can adopt the ordinance from the state, and then everyone is equal… I hate these ordinances because it takes away freedom,” Morrison said.

“I think that it has become important enough that the legislature will deal with it this time,” Morrison said, in response to Fleming’s suggestion that San Angelo go ahead and adopt a texting ban now, and then modify the ordinance once a state law is enacted.

If Morrison wants the city to wait for the state to act, San Angelo will probably wait a long time.

Former Governor Rick Perry vetoed a texting-while-driving ban in 2011. And Abbott has already expressed his opposition during last year’s campaign. His opponent, Wendy Davis, was a co-author of the texting-while-driving legislation.

Police Chief Tim Vasquez said that enforcing a texting ban is difficult for his officers. “It’s difficult for someone (a police officer) to determine if someone is texting,” he said. Hypothetically, if an officer stops someone suspected of texting, how does an officer prove that was the case, unless the driver volunteers that he or she was on the phone? Vasquez asked.

One option misunderstood by casual observers of law enforcement is that the police officer can ask to see the suspect’s phone. Vasquez said that police are not allowed to do that because a cell phone is considered private property. If the crime is classified only as a Class C misdemeanor, the municipal court cannot even issue a search warrant.

Vasquez said that his officers could enforce disallowing drivers from placing a phone to their ear, similar to how the ban on cell phone usage in school zones is enforced. Texting from a driver’s lap or the use of Bluetooth headsets or hands-free setups would be almost impossible, Vasquez said.

Larger cities like Amarillo that recently enacted texting bans did not realize the ticket revenue that was anticipated because the police force there found the law difficult to enforce, Vasquez said.

Today, without a texting ban, Vasquez said that his officers look at driver inattention as being a cause of accidents. (In the field, Traffic Division Officer Brian Bylsma has anecdotally noted that the number of crashes caused by drivers not paying attention has risen.)

Vasquez said that if a law is enacted to ban texting-while-driving, that citizens should not expect thousands of citations. In a larger city of 1 million people in Texas that enacted a texting ban, the number of citations issued the first year numbered about 100, Vasquez said.

Fleming was hopeful for new technology that will allow police officers see a cell phone transmission from a vehicle.

Farmer asked if the fine was large, like a $1,000 fine, if that would be enough of a deterrent.

Vasquez said that regardless of the difficulty enforcing the law, or the size of the fine, that he felt that a ban would be a deterrent, but only among citizens who already obey the law.

Grindstaff was favorable of enacting a texting-while-driving ban. She suggested holding town hall meetings outside the confines of a council meeting to obtain public input.

Councilman Johnny Silvas compared the anticipated pushback to the texting ban to the resistance he witnessed during the smoking ban debate. Silvas claimed that many said the smoking ban would shutter nightclubs. “But businesses flourished,” Silvas argued.

Jim Turner, the citizen sage of the city charter, reminded the council that they couldn’t initiate the creation of a texting ban. “The only way to put a referendum on the ballot is by petition of a group of citizens,” he said.

Council asked the staff to organize a night meeting to gather public input about a texting-while-driving ban. Staff asked if they should create a draft ordinance. “No, don’t do that. It might freak everyone out,” Grindstaff said.

 

 

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Please pass this ordinance. Just this morning had a girl pass me in a school zone with her phone in hand, texting. Just glad there were no school kids crossing at that time.

I am pretty sure there is a no cell phone use, including texting, in a school zone law with a decent fine already in place, you see how that is working. There are already distracted driving laws in place, you see how that is working. Another useless and unenforceable, as per Chief Velasquez, feel good law is a waste. If you really want to curb this behavior then mandate that all phones be inoperable in other than hands free/bluetooth mode above 15 mph, the technology is there and the code is doable.

Please please ban all cell phone useage, be like everywhere else, handsfree only, no texting, i see alot of it here in town and it terrifys me...please this would be the best thing for this town!!

Of course this a "NO BRAINER" STOP any usage while driving. Hefty fines will ensure that this will make a difference, and the SAPD won't have to second guess stopping the driver!!!!!
Get real City Council!!!!!

jdgt, Thu, 01/22/2015 - 09:44

I started a petition about a year ago to ban texting and driving in the state of Texas. It made me ill to see the number of people who opposed the ban, calling on their freedoms and rights being infringed upon. I could not, for the life of me, understand why ANYONE would want the right to put their lives, or the lives of others in danger by being allowed to text behind the wheel. I couldn't get more than 62 signatures on it. I was so disappointed, and heartbroken that humanity had taken such a selfish turn for the worse.

Please pass this ordinance. If it saves even ONE life, it was worth it.

Deb39, Thu, 01/22/2015 - 09:45

I'm not concerned about how many tickets the ban might produce for the PD. I'm more concerned about the potential loss of life and insurance rates. People have a hard time understanding why their insurance rates continue to rise despite the volume of claims and the cost of repairs. Even a minor fender bender costs thousands which has to be passed along to those who are insured. Distracted drivers, regardless of the importance of that call or text, can pull aside and talk or text all day long but they should not be allowed to endanger others or threaten their property because they felt they could not part with the extension of their self called the cell phone. Will it stop all texting or talking and driving - only the naive would think so - but it would curtail or slow the abuse down a little. There are people driving with no insurance and no driver's license and law enforcement has not figured out a way to get 100% compliance with those laws either but it does not negate the need to have those laws and penalize those who don't comply. This ordinance is long overdue.

sjp104, Thu, 01/22/2015 - 11:17

This state is suffering from "Californication", gets worse by the year to. Something needs to be done about it as well, we have a no cell phone usage in school zones now. Have been hit 3 times in about 4months, due to talking on the phone, Not texting!!!!!!

they don't even have enough officers to enforce the laws on the books right now. I can't count the number of times I have seen people speeding, running red lights etc.

Under the new San Antonio law, effective January 1, 2015, motorists are barred from holding the devices to make phone calls, text, use email, access the Internet, play games as well as “other use of the device.” Unlike the Austin ordinance, drivers are barred from using smartphones and similar devices while temporarily stopped in traffic, as in at a red light.

Yeah right, like that's going to solve anything..... It is already against the law to speed, run red lights, not have insurance.... If you think folks will stop texting while driving then I've got a heck of a deal on some beach front property in Arizona for sale.....

I thought the state already had something in place on texting while driving... guess not. With all the high school anti-texting while driving campaigns more common, I'm surprised to learn that there isn't. But I see, and I hate to admit, a lot of women doing this now. It's not just teens. You see more women sitting at intersections looking down (and I don't think they are studying their laps), not paying attention to their surroundings. We need good role models for our youngsters.

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