Panel balks at raising cell-phone fines
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Councilor says she'll still push for new penalties
9/16/2008 - 9/17/08
Members of the city Public Safety Committee thought proposed new fines for Santa Fe drivers caught talking on cell phones were too high and voted Tuesday to table the idea.However, City Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger, who isn't a member of the committee, indicated she would take her proposal to the full council anyway.
The ordinance amendment would increase the fine for a driver caught talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device to $250 from $60. If caught in a school zone, a driver would be fined $500 under the proposal.
The City Council in July voted 6-2 against repealing the 6-year-old ordinance after debating its effectiveness and enforcement issues. Councilor Matthew Ortiz had noted the ban is ignored by many motorists and argued that police could always cite distracted drivers under more general traffic codes.
However, Wurzburger said at the time that she wanted to stiffen penalties in the ordinance rather than repeal it.
On Tuesday, committee member Mike Bowen looked at a list of fines for other traffic infractions and said the proposed cell-phone fine seemed disproportionately high. He cited the $25 fine for not putting a child in a restraint as an example. "I have a real problem with that," Bowen said.
District Attorney Henry Valdez said he thinks the cell-phone ordinance is superfluous because other laws exist to address the problems. He also said the fines were too high. "To working people," he said, "a week's wages is a bit excessive."
Wurzburger said she came up with the dollar figures after talking to about 100 random people and asking them what amount would cause them to change their behavior. The idea, she said, is to deter people from talking on cell phones while driving.
Several committee members said enforcement of the ordinance is the key to deterring behavior.
The city ticketed 2,115 drivers for cell-phone violations in 2005, 1,385 in 2006, 335 in 2007 and 1,393 though Sept. 1 of this year, said Santa Fe Police Chief Eric Johnson, who added that his newly created traffic unit is enforcing the ordinance to a greater degree than last year.
