Greenville drivers start to put phones down as law takes effect

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/25115309/greenville-drivers-prepare-for-distracted-driving-ban

 

Summary

Recently Greenville City passed an ordinance that would impose drivers with a fine if they are caught using any hand held device while driving. Texting, calling, and using a phone for its GPS features could result in a $100 first offense and would increase each time the offense is committed again. Drivers are not completely prohibited from using their phones; they can be used as long as its hands free. The ordinance allows Greenville Police to also enforce the law in public parking lots, but they are primarily focused on drivers on roadways (you have to be legally parked in order to be able to use your phone). The only time a driver may be exempt from the ordinance is if the driver is calling to report a crime or an emergency to the proper authorities. Public safety personnel are exempt from the law if they are using their phones for work related duties.

Opinion

I’m personally surprised to hear that Greenville has passed an ordinance that would make it illegal to use a handheld device while operating a vehicle. The reason for my surprise is that it took them a while to pass such an ordinance; especially considering the fact that the City of Clemson, a much smaller city, passed a similar ordinance back in 2010. Yet, I feel that it’s great that they have gone ahead with such a measure because it will surely lower the amount of accidents due to driver distraction.

Having passed this ordinance is sure to cause annoyance with drivers since talking on the phone is also considered illegal under the new city law. Perhaps this is the only part that I am sort of hesitant about. I agree that texting and using a phone for its GPS features should be prohibited but I’m not so sure about talking on the phone. When texting, the drivers eyes are obviously not on the road, but that is not the case when merely talking on the phone. I believe this is the part of the ordinance that will aggravate the most people but not so much the texting portion of the law.

I also agree with the section that pertains to allowing public safety personnel to use phones while they are driving. They are in charge of responding to emergencies and having a phone on hand can help make their job easier. I really would like for public safety departments to make sure that their employees do use phones for work related duties though. Another part of the law that I agree with is that the police will mainly focus on texting on roadways and not so much on parking lots. Still, officers have the authority to ticket drivers that they feel are driving while texting in public parking lots.