BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Anyone stuck keeping a mobile phone whilst driving in Battle Creek will soon be issued a ticket.
“The cutting-edge law in the State of Michigan talks about distracted driving but it is written very specific to texting,” stated Chief Jim Blocker with the Battle Creek Police Department. “This is more particular to simply the huge use of manipulating your mobile telephone in your hand or perhaps in your lap.”
The City of Battle Creek accredited the brand new ordinance on February 5. It prohibits drivers from using their mobile phones to scroll, kind and talk while running a motor vehicle. The intention, he stated, is road safety.
“In 2017 there have been 126 vehicle accidents,” Chief Blocker stated at some stage in an interview at headquarters. “Eight percent of those have been distracted drivers.”
The new law will take effect on February 15 and will best cover areas in the metropolis limits of Battle Creek, he stated. Signs could be positioned up at the metropolis’s access points warning drivers to maintain their arms lose whilst on the road. Blocker cautioned drivers to purchase vehicle devices in order to allow them to do that.
“There is a whole lot of secondary merchandise out there that you can attach your mobile telephone to permit’s say a vent,” Chief Blocker said.
According to a press release from the metropolis, no longer all are laid low with the new regulation. Radio operators certified by way of the FCC, police, hearth and other driving emergency automobiles at the same time as at the task and everybody reporting a crash, medical emergency or avenue risk are exempt from the ordinance.
However, for anyone else, Chief Blocker recommends preserving your attention forward.
“There’s absolutely nothing extra scary for a motive force [than] to have an incident that’s one of these close to leaving out and it is all due to the fact you just took your eyes off the road for that millisecond,” Chief Blocker said. “This is simply one greater cause of this community to try and make it a safer area.”