Nashville considering ban on drivers using hand-held cellphones

Nashville council members, citing safety concerns, are considering a ban on drivers using hand-held cellphones.

The proposal, which is set to go before the city council later this month, would only allow drivers to make cellphone calls that don’t require hands to use. The maximum penalty under the law would be a $50 fine, plus court costs.

J.B. Loring, one of the Nashville city council members sponsoring the bill, said cellphones are one of the biggest hazards on the road.

“I almost get run over once a week by these silly people talking on cellphones and trying to drive,” Loring said.

Emergency workers and law enforcement officers are exempt under the bill. Drivers making calls to 911 or other emergency telephone numbers would also be exempt.

Lawmakers in other areas have enacted similar laws to improve public safety by curbing accidents, and most academic and insurance experts agree that cellphones are a distraction to drivers.

A study released last month by the government found that nearly eight of 10 collisions or near-crashes involved a lack of attention from drivers in the moments before impact.

A driver’s reaching for a moving object increased the risk of a crash or potential collision by nine times, according to researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

They found that the risk of a crash increases almost threefold when a driver is dialing a cellphone.

Banning hand-held devices doesn’t eliminate potential danger because drivers can still be distracted using handsfree phones, said Russ Rader, a spokesman with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Randy Bly, a spokesman for AAA Auto Club South, said drivers should use their own good judgment, pulling off the road to talk on the phone, or making quick calls at stoplights.

Talking by phone can be just as distracting as pushing buttons on the cellphone pad, he said.

“It’s just human nature to visualize what you’re talking about.”