Hazlet goes ahead with hands-on cell phone ban
Emergency service
personnel allowed
to continue use
HAZLET — Keep your hands off your cell phone and drive. That’s now Hazlet law — a law that officials vowed to beat the state to the punch with and did.
The decision came quickly. Introduced at the May 7 Township Committee meeting, the ordinance banning hand-held cell phone use while driving was unanimously passed May 21.
However, Mayor Christopher Cullen noted that the new law will probably take about 20 days to enact as part of standard protocol. Whatever the wait, though, Cullen said officials felt it was essential to enact the law to protect residents, considering the uncertainty concerning the possibility of such a law passed statewide.
Calling the passing of the ordinance a prudent move for the township to take right now, Cullen said, "We don’t really know when the state is going to pass its own law banning hand-held cell phones while driving." Cullen noted, "It could be a week, a month, a year. We just don’t know when that’s going to happen.
"And in the meantime, there have been enough complaints and observations that tell us doing this sooner than the state is better. If, because we jumped on the chance to enact this law, there’s one less accident or one life is saved, then it’s worth it. Making Hazlet residents’ lives safer could never be a premature decision or a mistake," he added.
The township joins Marlboro as the second municipality in Monmouth County to enact such a ban. In fact, the Hazlet ordinance was written using the one passed in Marlboro as a model. Officials