A number of states, including New Jersey, New York and California, and cities such as Chicago prohibit the use of handheld cell phones while driving.
But the few cell-phone bans in effect in the state - including laws in Conshohocken, Lower Chichester, and West Conshohocken - have been enforced only sporadically after Bucks County Court struck down a local law in Hilltown Township in 2000.
In that case, the judge ruled that driving laws should be uniform across the state. And state legislators favoring a ban on handheld cell phones say that it should be done statewide.
"Certainly, we welcome the councilmen for their support of this issue, and I look forward to working with them," said State Rep. Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery). Still, Shapiro said, "I think it is not wise to have individual policies, municipality by municipality - it's better to have one statewide standard."
Shapiro's 2007 bill would have required hands-free devices only for those driving vehicles, as opposed to people using skateboards, in-line skates, bicycles and scooters, which are covered by the Council bill. Shapiro said initial resistance from the telecommunications industry has waned, and Verizon Wireless now supports the measure.
At lunchtime in Center City yesterday, drivers and pedestrians spoke out in favor of the idea.
"I think it would be a great idea - there's just too many distractions out there as it is," said Mark Delaney, 47, of Eagleville. Delaney, who installs telephones for a living and is in and out of his truck all day, said he tried not to use his cell phone at all while driving.
"I've been talking on the phone big time for the last 10 years," said a laughing Ray Boyd, a union plumber who switched to hands-free recently and recommends it.
Rita Ozwirk's grown children know better than to talk on their cell phones while she's in the car.
