01/16/2001 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Council Minutes of 1/16/01 Nashar moved for suspension of the rule requiring three readings; second by Mr. McKay. ri" Roll call: Nashar, yes; McKay, yes; Miller, yes; Limpert, no; Kasler, yes; O'Grady, no; Gareau, yes. The motion passed with five yeas and two nays. President Saringer invited audience participation since the legislation was being passed under suspension of the rules: Denis Dunn, Director of External Affairs for Ameritech, 45 Erieview Plaza., Cleveland, 44114, spoke in opposition to the proposed ordinance. • There are currently over one hundred million cell phones in use, and 80% to 90% of the people who own cell phones currently use them in their automobiles. Yet, there has been a 30-year decline in automobile accidents. Cell phones are not causing accidents. Last year, 40,000 people were killed on the nation's highways: 16,000 were killed due to DUI or other alcohol-related accidents; 11,000 were attributed to speed; 4,000 were attributed to inattentive drivers with only 100 attributed to cell phone use. • Harvard University has done studies on this issue and concluded that legislative efforts to restrict cell phone use require more study and that, if passed at this point, are "...likely to produce ill-informed decisions that may do society more harm than good." • There is the argument that cell phones are being singled out because they are new technology. The affirmative way to deal with this is first through education by trying to encourage stricter driver education to ensure drivers focus on the task of driving. Also, there should be stricter licensing through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The full-time and attention laws that are currently on the books should be enforced. Rick Ellis, AT&T Wireless Services, 25000 Great Northern Corporate Center, said he wished to mirror some of the comments made by Mr. Dunn. • It is true that cell phones can be distracting, but there are many other distraction for drivers which cause accidents. Cell phones are relatively new, and the accident statistics have stayed relatively flat. There is an increased awareness among the American public as to the dangers and use of cell phones and the potential distractions that they can cause. The use of ear buds and other hands-free devices are becoming more apparent. • Since the City of Brooklyn, Ohio passed its law two years ago, a number of communities have looked at that law and have mostly rejected it because they found that the statistics did not bear out what the anecdotal evidence was saying. A 1986 study from the New York State Journal of Medicine showed that smokers are 50% more likely to have an automobile accident than non-smokers. They filed 20% more accident claims with insurance companies than non-smokers. There are distractions, other than cell phones, which should be focused on too. AT&T supports continued education as a method of promoting safety. Councilman Nashar said that he had checked with various insurance companies and they do not have a section on accident reports for use of cell phones. However, he does know that one major insurance company will be addressing that issue soon. What this legislation does is address hand-held cell phones. A person using ahands-free phone will 8