It will be several weeks before motorists are ticketed for violating a new law which prohibits the use of hand-held cellular phones while driving on streets and highways in Marlboro.
But there will come a day when that happens.
Less than 15 minutes after the Township Council voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance at its meeting on Thursday, Mayor Matthew Scannapieco signed the new law, making it effective immediately as an emergency public safety measure.
Police indicated in the days following the law’s enactment that tickets will not be issued immediately to those people who violate the law.
The council’s action followed a three-week local and national media blitz focused on Marlboro becoming the first town in New Jersey to enact an ordinance regulating the use of mobile phones in motor vehicles.
Public opinion on the law ran the gamut from wholehearted support from some local residents as well as county and state lawmakers to criticism from some mobile phone users, local police officials and at least one corporate giant — AT&T.
The ordinance was introduced by a 4-1 vote of council members on June 22. It was the subject of a public hearing on Thursday that was attended by more than 100 people — residents and representatives of local and national news media who came to Town Hall for the expected passage of the ordinance.
Under the terms of the new law, all motorists, with the exception of emergency services personnel and law enforcement officials, are prohibited from using a hand-held cellular phone while operating a vehicle on Marlboro’s roads.
"I want to make it very clear that this ordinance restricts the use of hand-held mobile phones, with the emphasis on hand-held," council President Steven Gustman said prior to the vote. "It does not affect the use of headsets or hands-free devices in the car. However, all drivers should exercise the utmost caution when operating a motor vehicle under any circumstances."
Municipal officials said that regardless of using any hands-free device to receive or make mobile phone calls, the law prohibits dialing a phone number or using the mobile phone in any manner where a driver must remove a hand from the steering wheel of the vehicle while it is in operation.
"If you adopt this ordinance it will cause undue expense on the part of the township to defend it," said resident Melvin Kenduck. "This is an issue for the state legislature to deal with. This is a waste of township resources, a waste of court resources and a waste of our police department’s resources."
Responding to Kenduck’s remarks, state Senator John O. Bennett III, the township’s attorney, said, "This ordinance will be under a new section of the township’s ordinances, not under the traffic and safety or motor vehicle sections. It falls under the general police powers of the municipality. Not all ordinances have to be approved by the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and there is nothing that prevents us from sending it to the DOT for input, but we’re not required to do so."
Responding to residents’ comments that the issue of regulating the use of cellular phones in motor vehicles should be decided at the state government level, council Vice President Barry Denkensohn, who spearheaded the movement to adopt the ordinance, said the majority of council members decided "it was time to do the right thing."
"It’s not a waste of township resources to save lives," Denkensohn said. "Our state legislature has failed to act on this important matter. Hopefully, other municipalities are prepared to jump on the bandwagon and follow the lead which Marlboro has taken."
Resident Dr. Steven Mishkin supported the council’s actions and said there is a need to pass legislation on the state and federal levels to regulate the use of cellular phones by motorists.
"I am a cell phone addict and plan my day around the use of a cell phone in the car," Mishkin said. "I’m not the same driver when I’m using the phone. You just don’t know when you’ll need two hands on the wheel."
Milltown resident Ed Goff, in an emotional appearance before the council, related the loss of his nephew, 19-year-old Shawn Kulczycki, a Monroe Township, Middlesex County, resident who was struck and killed in September 1998 by a motorist using a cellular phone.
During the June 22 meeting when the ordinance was introduced, Denkensohn dedicated the proposed law in memory of Kulczycki, with his mother present in the audience.
On Thursday, Denkensohn read prepared statements that had been forwarded to the council from Congressman Rush Holt and Patti Pena.
Pena is the mother of a 2-year-old girl who was killed in an automobile accident in Pennsylvania by a motorist who was using a cellular phone.
The statements from Holt and Pena supported the Marlboro council for taking steps to regulate mobile phone use in motor vehicles.
Following the close of the public hearing and prior to the council’s vote to adopt the ordinance, attorney Philip Berg asked to speak. Berg waged a successful battle on behalf of a client who challenged a similar law in Hilltown, Pa., which resulted in that town’s law being declared null and void at the appellate court level.
Gustman told Berg, who arrived in Town Hall just after the public hearing had been closed, that he could not address the council. Meanwhile audience members were shouting out that Berg should be allowed to speak.
Disregarding Gustman’s directions, Berg persisted in attempting to address the council and was escorted from the microphone by Marlboro Police Capt. Danny Schick at Gustman’s direction.
"If you pass this ordinance without allowing me to speak, I will represent anyone who decides to challenge it for free, to have it appealed in court," Berg said after being led away from the microphone.
"I agree with the council president and the council members on this issue," Scannapieco said. "It’s the right thing to do and the administration fully supports their actions to heighten public awareness of this threat to pubic safety."
Scannapieco added, "Cell phone use is imbedded in our lives and has resulted in placing our convenience and self-interest before the safety of others. Marlboro can’t stand as an island and we need the support of the other municipalities in New Jersey and the law of the state to enforce this ordinance."
Councilman Dr. Paul Kovalski Jr., who was away on vacation and a business trip and was unable to attend the July 13 meeting, told the New Transcript last week he supports the council’s attempt to safeguard residents and visitors who travel on Marlboro’s roads, but he remained opposed to the ordinance as drafted.
"I support safety measures when it comes to driving and I want an ordinance that is fair and can be enforced," Kovalski said. "I support the enactment of two bills currently under consideration by the state legislature and would like to send a resolution in support of them from the council to our state lawmakers."
Kovalski said he believes cell phone use regulation and education needs to be addressed on a state level.
"Marlboro is a special place, but cell phone use isn’t unique to it. We need to address all distractions to drivers," he said. "I don’t believe it’s fiscally responsible of me to burden the taxpayers with the inevitable court costs which will result when this law is challenged in court."
Kovalski, as well as police officials, cited the need to post signs on Marlboro’s roads informing motorists of the ban on hand-held mobile phones while operating a motor vehicle.
At a meeting Friday between township officials and representatives of the Marlboro police department, it was agreed that motorists who are stopped by police officers for moving violations will not be ticketed for hand-held cell phone use until such time that the issue of road signs and ordinance enforcement details can be addressed by local authorities.
According to Marlboro Police Capt. Daryl Conover, there will be a period of adjustment for the police and motorists to become acquainted with the new law before any tickets are issued to violators.
Conover said no timetable for enforcement has been established, but noted that the law is in force now. Police officers will continue to enforce careless driving ordinances and issue tickets to offenders as has always been the department’s practice, he said.

