BATTLE CREEK, MI — The Battle Creek City Commission voted unanimously this week to ban drivers from handling cell phones while behind the wheel.

The Commission voted at its Tuesday, Feb. 5, meeting to pass the ordinance on second reading, Battle Creek spokeswoman Jessica VanderKolk said.

Under the new ordinance, which goes into effect on Feb. 15, police will be able to pull over drivers if they see a phone in their hands, VanderKolk said.

Drivers in violation of the new law could be issued a civil infraction, the ordinance states. The penalty is $100 for the first offense, and $200 for the second or subsequent offense, VanderKolk said.

Commissioner Kaytee Faris said the idea came from discussion within the city’s bicycle advisory committee.

“Common sense tells us we shouldn’t use cell phones while driving,” Faris said, though she acknowledged it has become a habit for some drivers.

Distracted driving is recognized nationwide as a serious public health threat, the city commissioner said, according to documentation of the ordinance approval process. It can be especially dangerous for bicyclists, who are riding without a protective metal cage around them, Faris said.

“Michigan currently has a distracted driving law but it pertains only to text messages," she said, according to the city document. “The state law is hard to enforce because it is hard to prove that someone was texting, as opposed to (for example) surfing the internet or checking Facebook. Our proposed ordinance would address the broader variety of activities performed on two-way devices, making it a more enforceable law. We believe that having an enforceable ordinance will lower the number of distracted driving accidents in Battle Creek."

Drivers can still use GPS, she said, as long as they are not manipulating the device while driving.

“You can always pull over in a parking lot and make that call,” Faris said.

The ordinance will allow exceptions for specific uses of cell phones when:

Reporting a traffic accident, medical emergency or serious road hazard

Reporting a situation in which the person believes their personal safety is in jeopardy

Reporting or averting the perpetration or potential perpetration of a criminal act against the individual or another person

Carrying out official duties as a police officer, law enforcement official, member of a paid or volunteer fire department, or operator of an emergency vehicle.

The idea behind the ordinance is to give police more of a “visual” to enforce, VanderKolk said.

While the new law is enforceable, she said the city does not anticipate there will be an abundance of tickets given.

A portion of the draft ordinance that goes into effect on Feb. 15.

Because the law is specific to Battle Creek, the city will post signs at the city limits, VanderKolk said.

A city official estimates it would take an estimated 30 signs to cover all major roads entering Battle Creek, excluding Interstate highways and entrances from the city of Springfield. The plan also includes placing signs at local I-94 exit ramps.

The cost to fabricate the signs and install them, which includes the cost materials, poles and hardware, is estimated at $160.74 per sign. The total cost of new signage is estimated to be $4,822.20, according to the city.

In 2016, there were 12,788 crashes in Michigan involving distracted driving, resulting in 43 fatalities and 5,103 injuries, according to the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center.

That same year, cell phones were involved in 1,912 crashes in Michigan, which is about 15 percent of all crashes involving distracted driving in the state. Of the 1,912 crashes in Michigan involving cell phone use, 1,893 (99 percent) involved use by a motor vehicle driver, 18 involved use by a bicyclist and 7 involved use by a pedestrian, according to the Criminal Justice Information Center data.

Michigan has a statute that prohibits texting while driving, VanderKolk said, but state law does not specifically prohibit a driver from holding a phone while driving.

Other Michigan cities have passed similar ordinances, she said, including Troy and Detroit.