Santa Monica Rejects Ban on Drivers’ Cell Phone Use

A controversial proposal to outlaw cellular phone use by drivers in Santa Monica was rejected Tuesday night by the City Council.

Pressured by telephone company lobbyists and residents who complained that cellular phone conversations made for bad drivers, the council voted 5 to 2 against a ban on behind-the-wheel phone conversations within the city limits.

Representatives of Sprint PCS, AT&T; Wireless and Pacific Bell Wireless all argued against the proposal Tuesday, saying they recommend that people pull to the side of the road to phone.

Councilman Ken Genser said that a few days ago he did just that--and was backed into by another driver who was also on a cellular phone.

The city’s legal staff began studying the consequences of a cellular phone prohibition in February, when Councilman Paul Rosenstein complained that he was fed up with drivers on phones. Every day, Rosenstein said, those drivers caused collisions and near-misses.

“The problem with cell phones is, they’re so common now that people don’t seem to realize the hazards they’re creating,” Rosenstein said Tuesday.

The city, he has said, should even consider banning other distractions behind the wheel, such as shaving, faxing and applying makeup.

Initially, several council members joked openly about the proposal. One wondered aloud if the city should consider banning passengers in cars, because they can be distracting.

Undeterred, Rosenstein said he was merely following the lead of two other cities that recently imposed similar bans: Brooklyn, Ohio, and Hilltown, Pa.

Since Rosenstein proposed the ban, other government agencies have acted to rein in communication technologies. Last week, Los Angeles County supervisors ordered that all cellular phones and pagers be silenced during their meetings. Vibrating is OK; ringing is not.

But the Santa Monica proposal, which would have imposed a $250 fine, drew the most attention, particularly from cellular telephone companies.

The Cellular Carriers Assn. of California said it made little sense because laws already allow police to cite drivers who are not paying attention to the road.

The use of cellular phones by drivers has been banned or restricted in Australia, Britain, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Those nations have drawn a clear connection between cellular phone use and car accidents, but the auto insurance industry in the United States says no comprehensive study has been done here. One reason is that the auto insurers say they need access to telephone billing records to conduct a study, but telephone companies say that would violate their customers’ privacy.

A Canadian study done in 1997 concluded that the use of cellular phones in cars quadrupled the risk of an accident, even among drivers who used “hands-free” phones. However, the study said efforts to regulate the use of phones in cars also must consider their benefits, such as the ability to call for an ambulance after an accident.