It isn’t often that I take issue with your editorial comments. However, your remarks in the July 12 issue about Marlboro’s new cell phone ordinance seem to call for a response. You raised a number of issues that merit consideration and more thought than you seem to have given them.
Giving due credit to Chief Robert Holmes’ letter to the Marlboro Township Council as well and good, the council might well have discussed the matter with the police department before taking action.
Be that as it may, the fact that there have been no accidents reported in Marlboro as a result of cell phone use should not be sufficient to say that there should be no law. Following that logic, the township should not have imposed speed limits for motor vehicles on its roads simply because no accidents were reported as a result of speeding.
Should the state not have rules and regulations for the use of seat belts and have the township enforce those rules? Should the state not have passed legislation regarding the use of child seats? Yes, there was much protest over both laws and accusations of "micro-managing." I was one of those who objected to it.
But on due reflection and the passage of time, I can see the wisdom of the regulation. Not too many people complain about those laws today. They recognize the wisdom and the necessity of those laws.
Wherever there is a "clear and present danger" of accidents happening, the legislative authorities should exert their power and pass ordinances that would safeguard the residents of their towns.
They do not have to wait until an accident happens.
It is a simple matter of doing what is best for the majority of the citizens. If it affects a small number of persons who feel that they have to talk and drive, that is too bad. What did they do before the cell phones were invented? The world went on and will go on in any event.
I think the council should be commended for taking this forward-looking action. It will set a precedent for other towns and perhaps for the state as a whole. I do not think that the action of a court in Pennsylvania should frighten anyone. Courts have been known to change their opinions to conform to the needs of the citizens.
Nathan Handlin
Marlboro