City to consider cell phone zone signage




The Port Aransas City Council could make a decision soon on whether to enforce a new state law that allows cities to prohibit use of cell phones while driving in school zones, under certain conditions.

Port Aransas City Manager Michael Kovacs said the council likely will take up the matter at its meeting on Thursday, Sept. 17. Kovacs said city staff will consult with school officials to see how they feel about the matter before the council meeting.

In order to enforce the new law, cities must erect signs warning motorists against cell phone use in school zones, according to the statute approved in the most recent legislative session.

House Bill 55 makes it illegal to use a wireless communication device in a school zone unless the vehicle is stopped or a hands-free device is used.

“It is a defense to prosecution if the operator was making an emergency call,” stated a news release issued in August by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The cell phone measure is one of a number of bills that took effect as law beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 1. According to the DPS, other new laws that took effect that day included:

• HB 537, which requires all occupants of a vehicle, no matter their age, to be buckled in with a safety belt, no matter where they are seated.

• Senate Bill 61, which mandates that any child younger than 8 years old be restrained in an approved child passenger safety seat unless the child is at least 4 feet 9 inches tall.

• HB 2730, which increases the penalties for driving while intoxicated with a child passenger. The measure adds an automatic driver license suspension period for first-time offenders and an increased suspension period for repeat offenders.

• SB 328, which gives the DPS the power to suspend a minor’s driver license if he or she fails a breath or blood alcohol test while operating a watercraft.


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