A proposal to ban the use of new or old cell phones while operating a motor vehicle has divided opinion in Chapel Hill in North Carolina in the United States. Retired UNC professor Joe Capowski is the man who has proposed the contentious ban, saying that studies show that people are unable to multi-task while operating a motor vehicle and that using a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as being drunk behind the wheel. Capowski insists that “Driving with a blood alcohol level of .10, driving while talking on a hand held cell phone and driving while talking on a hands free cell phone… these things are identical in risk.”
News station NBC-17 has been talking to local residents, however, and the great majority appears to be seriously unimpressed with the idea. Cell phone user and driver Symone Morales says that while she believes “in the non-texting thing”, banning talking on a cell phone while driving is “ridiculous”, while cell phone user Charlie Umstead appears to be in favor of the idea in principle but questions how enforceable such a law would be.
“State troopers have said it’s pretty enforceable”, counters Capowski. “A person while talking on a cell phone presents the same outward signs as a drunk person – they weave, they drive too slow or too fast and they don’t control their cars well.”
The proposal will need to be written, be checked by attorneys, and face many public meetings before it can become law
Proposed Used Cell Phone Driving Ban Divides Community
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