The small town of Santa Fe joins in the school zone cellphone banning brigade.
Santa Fe has joined West University Place in banning drivers from using cell phones while passing through school zones.
By a 3 to 2 vote, the Santa Fe City Council adopted the restrictions Thursday night, said Mayor Ralph Stenzel.
The Galveston County city, population 10,000, wanted to protect children after having reports of accidents in school zones triggered by drivers distracted by their cell phones, Stenzel said.
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Those caught breaking the rule can be fined up to $200. Under the rule, motorists cannot use their cell phones while traveling through a school zone when the lights are flashing.
“If they have an emergency or something, they should pull over and stop before using their phone,” Stenzel said.
So Santa Fe joins West U Highland Park, San Antonio and probably others that I’m not aware of, with others likely at least studying it. Add into the mix places like Austin looking at banning texting while driving, and I’m thinking we’ll see someone introduce a bill in Austin to deal with all this stuff at a statewide level, which you may recall was AT&T’s position when West U got into the act. I don’t know of such a bill yet, and even if one gets introduced it may well not pass, but I’ll be surprised if someone doesn’t try to standardize these practices in the spring.