Violators of cellphone law will face $200 fine

From DentonRC.com:

By Candace Carlisle / Staff Writer

Texting on or dialing a cellphone in an active Denton school zone may now get you hooked up with a ticket.

A new Texas law that goes into effect Sept. 1 prohibits the use of cellphones — without a hands-free device — by the driver of a moving vehicle within an active school zone.

The city of Denton passed its own ordinance prohibiting cellphone use in active school zones in February, and that ordinance became effective Aug. 1, but Denton police Officer Ryan Grelle, a department spokesman, said a motorist will only be issued one general citation.

The penalty is the same — up to $200 — under both the new state law and the local ordinance, he said.

On Aug. 24, Denton police will start issuing warnings to motorists who use cellphones while driving through active school zones within the city limits, Grelle said.

“There will be a couple of weeks of warning before we start ticketing,” he said.

Once the department begins issuing tickets, violators could be fined up to $200 per offense, Grelle said.

Of the district’s more than 30 schools, 23 campuses lie within Denton city limits.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Study released its second annual Traffic Safety Culture Index last month with a finding that 80 percent of drivers rated distracted driving as a “very serious threat” to their safety. Yet those same drivers also admitted to the kinds of distracted driving that put themselves and others in danger, the survey found.

A 2006 study by University of Utah psychologists found that motorists talking on cellphones, whether handheld or hands-free, are as impaired as drunken drivers.

Denton Superintendent Ray Braswell said the district supports any initiative that makes the traffic pattern safer near campuses.

“We always want our motorists to be mindful of our children when approaching any of our schools,” he said.

Cellphone use in school zones has been banned in Sanger since Sept. 15, 2008.

Lake Dallas also prohibits cellphone usage in the city’s school zones.

That city’s ban went into place for the 2008-09 school year, shortly after a woman drove off a Lake Dallas road into Lewisville Lake while she was text-messaging on her cellphone. She was rescued by an off-duty firefighter who was fishing nearby.

At the time the city considered the ordinance, Police Chief Nick Ristagno said Lake Dallas officers reported that of all the tickets for speeding in school zones, nearly half went to drivers who were on the phone when they were pulled over.

The state Legislature is allowing municipalities to choose whether or not to impose the ban.