WASHINGTON-The District of Columbia in July is expected to join New York and a handful of other locales that require drivers to use hands-free devices when driving and talking after a bill passed the city council last week.
The bill calls for $100 fines, which could be suspended on first violation if the driver shows proof he has purchased a hands-free device. No points will be added to the driving record.
The measure must pass the council a second time, be signed by Mayor Tony Williams (D) and be approved by Congress, but all of this is expected, said Shana Heilbron, spokeswoman for D.C. Councilman Harold Brazil (D), an advocate for the bill.
Heilbron said amendments to the bill could occur when it is brought up for a second reading Jan. 6, but “usually if it hasn’t been amended, it won’t be.” Williams is likely to support the bill because there have been no objections from the mayor’s office, she added.
Because D.C. is a federal city and not part of any state, Congress must review all legislation. But if Congress does not object to the bill or fails to act on it, it will be effective July 1.
The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association was not pleased. “There’s no research that shows hands-free is necessarily safer. Nobody is proposing to ban to-go coffee cups or radios in cars. Those are not just equal, too, but more dangerous. Cell phones are way down the list,” said CTIA spokeswoman Kimberly Kuo.
A countrywide driving while talking ban in the United Kingdom went into effect last week. U.K. drivers who talk on their cell phones could be fined $52. Cases that go to court could mean a fine of up to $1,720.
Under the new law, drivers are banned from talking, as well as text messaging or accessing the Internet while using their mobile phones. Hands-free devices are allowed if the phone is in a cradle on the car’s dashboard.
