Cell phone usage prohibited
City council prohibits through area school zones
Isaac Wright
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: News
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Three weeks ago, the Pasadena City Council passed an ordinance that forces drivers to abandon their cell phones while driving through school zones during school hours.
Pasadena is only the latest of Texas cities to adopt such a law, following in the example of West University and Dallas further north.
Like the laws imposed by other cities, the new Pasadena law makes an exception for hands-free devices.
This means that the law is meant to reduce the number of drivers using their hand-held communication devices while driving in a school zone for any purpose such as making a phone call, sending a text message or any other features cell phones have acquired over the years.
The City Council passed the ordinance with a unanimous vote three weeks ago and, since then the law has gone into effect.
All the signs posted at school zones directing motorists to relinquish their phones in the areas have not all been posted yet, but the city is currently in the process of doing so.
Currently, there is a one-month grace period in place for drivers to learn the new law.
After that, the Pasadena Police Department will be writing tickets for anyone who violates the ordinance.
'The punishment is up to a $500 fine," Mike Jackson, Pasadena police chief, said. "Whether or not they receive the maximum fine is up to the judge."
The city council did not come to the decision to consider this ordinance in response to any particular incident. Instead, the city's leaders came to the decision to implement the law as a way to make the city safer.
"There was no official study that led us to this decision," Mayor Johnny Isbell of Pasadena, said. "It was just what you hear in the community through various people."
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