Tempe OKs toughest texting and driving law in Arizona

Tempe drivers might soon want to put down their cellphones.

The City Council voted 4-3 to adopt one of the strictest distracted-driving ordinances in the state to help get a handle on drivers and their ubiquitous cellphone use.

“It saves lives. It’s that simple,” said Councilman Kolby Granville on why he pushed for the ordinance. “Statistically, when you pass a law like we’ve modeled it after, accidents go down by 3 percent among the general population and 11 percent among young drivers, and that is lives (saved).”

Under the ordinance, drivers can still talk or text behind the wheel.

However, they could be fined if police catch them swerving within their lane or displaying other types of erratic driving with a phone in their hand.

Fines for a first offense would be $100. A second violation would jump to $250. Any fine thereafter within a two-year period would cost $500.

Opposing council members feared the ordinance could ensnare motorists who visit Tempe unaware of the new rules since the Tempe ordinance was unlike any other in the Valley.

“I worry about those … people that come to our city every single day and we continually have different laws, especially traffic laws,” said Councilwoman Robin Arredondo-Savage.

Instead of Tempe acting in isolation, Arredondo-Savage would have preferred a regional approach where other Valley cities agreed to pass similar laws.

Granville said laws have always varied from city to city and Tempe’s recent history proves this council isn’t afraid to go it alone.

Earlier this year, the Tempe council passed a ban on smoking while driving with kids in the car, which was also the first of its kind in the Valley.

Mayor Mark Mitchell, who along with Councilman Corey Woods voted against the ordinance, preferred working through the state Legislature to enact a statewide law.

But Tempe shouldn’t wait on the state to act when lives can be saved now, said Councilman David Schapira, a former state legislator.

Schapira said every year since 2007 a bill has been proposed to address distracted driving and every year it gets shelved.

He said it’s often up to cities to pick up the slack and pass laws the Legislature is unwilling to.

Nationwide, 46 states ban texting for drivers, while 14 states and Washington, D.C., prohibit drivers from talking on a cellphone.

Tempe’s not the first city in Arizona to pass a law addressing driving and cellphone use.

Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff have texting-specific laws on the books.

But those laws are difficult to enforce since drivers can claim they were using their phones for other things instead of texting. Tempe's law makes it easier to fine a driver for distracted driving while using a cellphone.

Tempe’s law will take effect in 30 days.

In other council news, the council also approved a five-year contract with Scottsdale-based Taser International to supply body cameras and handle the camera’s data storage for the Tempe Police Department.

The deal could be worth up to $1.8 million.

Taser could deliver 340 cameras to Tempe police by the end of the first contract year, city records show.

Distracted driving in America

* 69 percent of drivers admit to talking on a cellphone while driving within the last 30 days.

* 31 percent of drivers admit to texting while driving within the last 30 days.

* 26 percent of driving fatalities are because of distracted driving, the third leading cause behind alcohol (30.8 percent) and speeding (30 percent).

* Studies have shown texting while driving is six times more dangerous than driving drunk.

Sources: National Traffic Safety Administration and National Safety Council