City council to take up cell phone ban June 18

The Columbia Falls City Council will take up a proposed ban on the use of handheld mobile communication devices by drivers at their June 18 meeting.

City manager Susan Nicosia told councilors at their June 4 meeting that the proposed language is based on Whitefish’s ordinance in order to make it easier on travelers between the two cities.

Mayor Don Barnhart said he liked how Whitefish included a 30-day grace period but noted that the signs at the city limits need to be larger. He also wondered how the Columbia Falls ban might affect the thousands of tourists traveling through Columbia Falls every day on their way to Glacier National Park.

In related news, a judge in Helena’s Municipal Court recently announced he would double the fine imposed on drivers caught texting or talking into a cell phone. Judge Bob Wood said people didn’t appear to take $25 fines serious enough. Fines can be as high as $100 under the Helena ordinance, and one man was recently fined $100 after his vehicle hit a girl in a crosswalk while he was distracted by a cell phone.

Meanwhile, a high school student in Massachusetts was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to texting while driving during a fatal crash. Aaron Deveau, of Haverhill, was 17 years old at the time and had sent 193 text messages on the day of the fatal crash.

The Montana Highway Patrol recently reported in their 2011 annual report that cell phone use by drivers was a contributing cause in 254 crashes statewide last year, including five fatal crashes.