Reach out and ticket someone

Published 1:42 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

NORTH BEND – Another ordinance is in the works that takes aim at what can be done by drivers within city limits.

North Bend City Councilman Ed Carlson said the ordinance, which will be introduced this month, would outlaw the use of handheld cellular phones by anyone driving in North Bend, regardless of whether they had been pulled over for another offense.

“It gets people’s hands off their cell phones,” Carlson said.

The ordinance would replace a similar law passed in December 2001 that prohibited any “distracting activity” by drivers in North Bend. Although the ordinance was approved, it drew fire from opposing council members, local law enforcement and the community as being too broad and hard to enforce since it covered everything from cell phones to talking to children in the car.

Carlson announced at the Feb. 19 council meeting that the previous ordinance would be repealed pending the outcome of a bill in the state Legislature that specifically outlawed cell-phone use while driving anywhere in the state.

That bill died in committee, however, and Carlson, who chairs the North Bend Public Safety Committee, plans to introduce the similar North Bend ordinance at the March 19 City Council meeting.

The new ordinance would ticket drivers up to $100 if they are caught talking on a cell phone within city limits. It would be enforced as a primary offense, meaning a driver could be pulled over just for using a cell phone. The ordinance would allow drivers to use hands-free phones.

Emergency vehicles would be exempt from the ordinance, but city vehicles would not.

Although North Bend Mayor Joan Simpson didn’t veto the original ordinance, she said she might veto the new law.

“I don’t like the philosophy behind it. For drunk driving, you are pulled over because you did something. With something like this, you get punished for nothing,” she said. “I think it’s sending the wrong message to people: ‘Sure, come to our town and shop, but you might get a ticket even though you didn’t do anything.'”

Carlson, however, believes he has the support to pass the ordinance. Although Simpson has said she would veto such a law, Carlson believes he can get the 4-1 majority needed to override a veto.

“I still haven’t seen the finished ordinance yet so I can’t say how I’ll vote either way,” said Councilman Bill Wittress. “It would be another tool to hold people accountable for their driving. The issue really is that we should create an ordinance that makes us safer while putting the least amount of restrictions on personal freedoms.”

Carlson said that if the law was passed, there would be an introductory period where drivers would be warned if they are caught. The length of that period is still being debated, but he believes it could be anywhere between a year to 18 months.

Sgt. Grant Stewart of the King County Sheriff’s Office substation in North Bend said he is for anything that will make the community safer.

“How can I not be for something that makes the community safer?” said Stewart, who speculated that about 99 percent of all accidents are the result of drivers not paying attention and being distracted by something. “I don’t think cell phones are a problem. I think they are a problem for those who cannot concentrate on their driving, and talking on a cell phone is very distracting.”

Although the new ordinance would be easier to enforce, he also said he is unsure of how it would hold up in court.

“It’s hard to determine how a court is going to look at a particular violation,” Stewart said. “There are always going to be issues and there are always going to be test cases. It just remains to be seen.”

You can reach Ben Cape at (425) 888-2311, or e-mail him at ben.cape@

valleyrecord.com.