Evanston drivers haven’t yet broken the habit of calling or texting while driving, despite the $50 ticket it may cost them, Evanston officials said this week.
Evanston police have issued nearly 800 tickets to drivers for using cell phones while driving since officers began enforcing the ordinance this March, said Sgt. Thomas Moore , supervisor of the Traffic Bureau. Moore said it is a straightforward ordinance and there have been no problems with enforcement.
Ald. Jane Grover (7th) said Evanston residents are aware of the new law, but she still sees offenders, such as a woman driving with a cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other. Grover said there will be more efforts to combat distracted driving.
“It is the next public safety campaign, similar to buckling your seat belt when you drive and don’t drink and drive,” Grover said. “This one is ‘put your phone down when you drive.'”
She mentioned nationwide efforts such as the 2010 Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, D.C.. While kicking off the summit Monday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced new laws not only banning commercial truck and bus drivers from texting, but also restricting train operators from using cell phones and other electronics.
Nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver in 2009, according to the Department of Transportation.
Northwestern Triathlon Club President Bradley Sherman said he still sees drivers on cell phones and has not seen an appreciable drop in the number of distracted drivers.
“Some of the worst experiences that I have had with people either being way too close to me or coming into an intersection and not giving adequate time to stop before a stop light have been people with cell phones,” the first year McCormick graduate student said. “It’s really bad when someone is on a cell phone and looking for a place to go because they’re all over the road.”
Evanston resident and Evanston Community Media Center member Elena Garcia-Ansani took matters into her own hands by making a public service announcement in June to warn residents from driving while using a cell phone.
The public service announcement, which Garcia-Ansani said she made because was concerned for the safety of children, shows a man driving and texting with one hand while talking on the phone with the other. Garcia-Ansani said it was inspired by one of many distracted drivers she sees on the roads every day.
“My goal is to raise awareness and poke fun at certain individuals,” Garcia-Ansani said.
“Clearly it’s a law that nobody abides by,” she said. “It’s a joke with me and my kids, because I always say I should make a citizen’s arrest because I see so many people talking on their cell phones, not paying attention.”
Drivers in Evanston are aware of the ban, said Steve Bartlebaugh, executive director of the Evanston Community Media Center.
“One of the funniest things that I saw, it was an Evanston alderperson, the person was driving around Dempster (Street) and McCormick (Boulevard) where we’re at and I saw the phone in the person’s hand,” he said. “I gave the person the wiggles with my finger and I saw the person put it down.”
Bartlebaugh said he has seen some drivers pulling over before they answer their phones, but he acknowledges it will take time for the community as a whole to break the habit.
“Unless there’s some technology that allows the hands-free to be the mainstream, you’re going to have folks who are going to be in violation of this,” Bartlebaugh said. “It’s just instinctive to want to grab for the phone when it rings.”
