Subject: [NEXTEL-1] NYC tackles cell phone etiquette.html

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Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2002 03:07:15 -0500

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10/30/2002 - Updated 10:14 PM ET

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NYC tackles cell phone etiquette

By Charisse Jones, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — New York City is lobbing the latest volley in the war on cell phones and could be first in the nation to penalize anyone chatting during a movie, concert or Broadway show.

With 135 million people using cell phones across the country, the device has been celebrated, denigrated and increasingly regulated. Up to now, the concern primarily was whether cell phones are a dangerous distraction while driving. But New York City's proposed law shifts the debate over cell phones beyond the realm of public safety and into the arena of social etiquette.

Talk isn't cheap in some local jurisdictions

New York is the only state that bans drivers from holding cell phones while driving. About 40,000 tickets have been issued in the state since the law took effect Nov. 1, 2001. Several local jurisdictions have passed similar laws.

Location

Law in effect

Fine

Tickets issued

Brooklyn, Ohio

Sept. 1999

$35

809

Conshohocken, Pa.

Feb. 2000{+1}

Up to $1,000

1

Lebanon, Pa.

April 2000

Up to $75

NA

W. Conshohocken, Pa.

May 2000

Up to $75

3 issued, 2 dismissed

Carteret, N.J.

Oct. 2000

Up to $250

0{+2}

N. Olmsted, Ohio

Jan. 2001

$3-$75

45

Marlboro, N.J.

April 2001

Up to $250

355; 138 warnings

Nutley, N.J.

June 2001

Up to $250

NA

Walton Hills, Ohio

June 2001{+1}

$100

9

Sandy, Utah

Aug. 2001{+1}

Up to $300

49

Santa Fe

Jan. 2002

$94

318

1 — Ticket is issued only if another moving violation is committed;

2 — Does not enforce cell phone ordinance

Source: Research by Zubin Jelvah and Caroline Binham, USA TODAY

The City Council could consider the measure next month. Councilman Philip Reed is optimistic it will pass, though a few council members have expressed concerns. The bill would impose a $50 fine on anyone who dials up or fails to turn off the phone's ringer during an indoor performance, be it at a library, art gallery or concert hall.

Eleven local jurisdictions in the nation currently penalize or restrict the use of cell phones while driving. Brooklyn, Ohio, the first city to pass such a law, has issued 809 tickets since September 1999. Last November New York became the first state to prohibit motorists from holding cell phones while driving, and New Jersey may soon become the second. The governor is trying to enact such a ban by January. The state has already restricted the use of cell phones by school bus drivers and those with provisional driver's licenses, and the broader ban has bipartisan support, says a spokesman for the governor.

While many a moviegoer has suffered the annoyance of a ringing cell phone, some believe legislating cell phone etiquette goes too far.

"It is highly annoying when a cell phone goes off," says Kevin Brewer, a 31-year-old actor who had just switched off his cell phone while standing in the lobby of a Times Square movie theater. "That shouldn't happen. But as far as a law with a fine, that's a little harsh. It's just common respect to turn it off, or on to vibrate."

Travis Larson, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, called the proposal "a blunt instrument trying to fix a fairly small problem."

"We can't outlaw rude people," Larson says. "We can only hope to educate them. cell phones already come with a large number of tools to make them less invasive in public spaces."

However, there's also a burgeoning effort to stop the growing number of local laws and ordinances that restrict cell phone use while driving.

Six states have overridden such laws or prohibited local jurisdictions from enacting them. This year, Florida and Mississippi passed laws banning local restrictions. Oklahoma and Oregon have also imposed such prohibitions. In 2000, a Pennsylvania county court overturned one township's ban on using a hand-held cell phone while driving, saying only the state could set driving regulations.

And in March 2001, the Massachusetts attorney general said the Boston suburb of Brookline could not enforce its restriction because state laws allows the use of a cell phone as long as one hand remains on the steering wheel.

Legislators argue that there should be continuity throughout their state instead of a patchwork of local restrictions. But some also say more information is needed about how much danger is posed by driving and talking on a cell phone.

It is "very important to find out just where the use of cell phones stands as a distraction," says Florida state Sen. Jim Sebesta. "Is it a serious problem or is it not? And at this point, it's anyone's guess."

Because cell phones enable people to quickly report emergencies, for instance, it is difficult to get consensus on whether to regulate them, experts say. Particularly in the wake of last year's terrorist attacks, when cell phones were a lifeline between victims and their loved ones. This year, 31 states considered passing restrictions on the use of cell phones while driving, says Matt Sundeen of the National Conference of State Legislatures. So far, none has passed.

"What you've got with cell phones, which you didn't have with seatbelts or drunk driving or similar traffic safety topics, is there's a lot of utility to having a cell phone," Sundeen says. "It's not like it's just a useless tool out there annoying a lot of people. ... And that's why you don't see a lot of these cell phone bills passing."

Yet a tug of war continues. Even as Amtrak provides "quiet cars" where no cell phones are allowed, companies are working on technology that would allow cell phones to be used on commercial flights without interfering with an airliner's electronics. And while talk of cell phones as a public nuisance is a vastly different discussion than whether they are a potential danger on the road, Sundeen says concerns about both are fueling such measures.

Councilman Reed says he introduced his proposal after hearing from people whose evenings were marred by loquacious cell phone users. He says police would not have to spend all their time ticketing talkers. Rather the law would give theater patrons leverage to deal with those who are less considerate.

"People feel empowered to at least speak up if there's a law that says you can't do this," Reed says. "It's probably the most popular thing that I've ever introduced."

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