Ohio town cracks down on driving under influence
of phone
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New signs have popped up along Brooklyn's roadways
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August
25, 1999
From Correspondent Ed
Garsten
BROOKLYN, Ohio (CNN) -- In the habit of chatting on your cell
phone while driving down the street? Then steer clear of Brooklyn,
Ohio.
Unless you can talk on your cell phone without using your hands,
your conversation is illegal. While police are giving out warning
tickets now, they plan to issue real tickets, carrying a fine
of up to $100, starting September 1.
"If you're on the road and there's an emergency, use your
cell phone. But if you're on the road, gift-of-gabbing, pull
onto the side of the road," says Mayor John
Coyne, who proposed the law to promote safety. "If
you have a mobile unit where you can keep ... both hands on
the wheel, fine."
Not everyone is amused. Paul Jeris was recently pulled over
for talking while driving.
"We use the phone constantly for business ... if we're
late for meetings, every aspect," Jeris said. "I disagree
with it."
Coyne says the law will save lives, and a pair of studies tend
to support that position.
An investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
found that using a cell phone while driving does increase the
chance of getting into an accident. And a study published by
the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that motorists
quadruple their chances of having a wreck if they use their
cell phones while behind the wheel.
One cell phone service provider agrees that drivers should
pay more attention to the road but disagrees with the research.
"I think if you consider there were 200,000 people with
cell phones in 1984 and there are 69 million now, if there was
a direct correlation to safety and cell phone use, there would
be a 10 times -- or whatever that factor is -- (increase) of
car accidents," says Tom Minardo of Airtouch Cellular.
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