West Windsor Township Council expected to discuss proposal
By: David M. Campbell
WEST WINDSOR – The Township Council is expected to discuss a proposal this month to ban the use of cellular phones while driving.
Planning Board member Richard Snedeker presented a letter at last week’s council meeting asking its members to approve an ordinance that would make it illegal to talk on hand-held cellphones while behind the wheel in West Windsor.
"I thought it was an issue worthy of consideration by our township council, because in recent years there has been a big increase in traffic in West Windsor," Mr. Snedeker said. Talking on cellular phones while driving, he continued, "adds to the hazards that we already have, and it’s an added hazard we don’t need."
A similar ordinance was approved July 13 in Marlboro Township, the first New Jersey town to adopt a vehicular cellphone ban. Marlboro’s ordinance limits road cellphone use to headsets and mounted "speaker phone" style devices, according to a report by Reuters. Violations carry fines up to $250, applicable to all motorists except police and emergency personnel, the report said.
The West Windsor Township Council is expected to consider Mr. Snedeker’s proposal at its Aug. 14 agenda session.
Uniformity among municipalities is one issue the council will likely have to consider in reviewing such a ban, said Township Attorney Michael Herbert. Drivers from out of town who are not aware that such a ban is in place would have to be alerted to West Windsor’s traffic law with traffic signs. To put the signs in place, the township would need approval from the state and county, Mr. Herbert said.
Marlboro police are not yet enforcing the ban because approval for signs has not yet been granted, he said.
If the ban is approved as a traffic ordinance, it would need approval by state legislators, Mr. Herbert continued. All traffic ordinances, such as speed limits and laws governing moving violations, have to be approved at the state level, Mr. Herbert said.
The Marlboro Township Council has said its ban is not a traffic ordinance, rather it is under the auspices of what are called general police powers, allowing the municipality to circumvent state authority, he said.
West Windsor Councilman Charles Morgan said a cellular phone ban would be redundant. Erratic or inattentive driving is already covered under the township’s reckless driving laws, he said.
"So on balance, I don’t see the need, but nevertheless I would be very concerned about anyone driving while talking and not paying attention," he said. "But I see it as an extra overlay of legislation that is not necessary."
Councilwoman Jacqueline Alberts said, "It’s interesting what has happened with the other communities who have gone out on a limb on what are statewide concerns."
Marlboro Township, she said, "has attracted a lot of media attention and litigation, similar to Princeton with its smoking ban. I think that’s a factor that needs to be considered."
The potential impact of such a ban on the township’s commuting business community will also have to be considered, she said.
"West Windsor has a rather large business community that gets stuck in traffic on Route 1, and tend to call each other (while in their cars)," Ms. Alberts said. "That also needs to be considered."
Four U.S. towns have passed similar bans, including Brooklyn, Ohio, the first in the nation, which approved an ordinance in March, according to the Reuters report. Three bans in Pennsylvania followed, in reaction to the November 1999 death of a 2-year-old killed in Hilltown, when a driver on a cellphone ran a stop sign and broadsided the car driven by her mother, the report said.
The Hilltown ban was overturned July 11 by a Bucks County Court judge who said it was pre-empted by the state’s Motor Vehicle Code, which contains no such ban, according to a report by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Twenty-seven state legislatures considered bills last year to prohibit or limit cellphone use by drivers, Reuters said.
Two such bills were proposed last year in New Jersey, one in the state Senate and one in the Assembly. Both remain in committee.