iDriveFocused.com. Driving while distracted is bad for your health. Here's why.

The police department of South Bend, Indiana posted a really interesting tidbit on its official blog yesterday.  In a piece reacting to Oprah's Monday show on the dangers of distracted driving, SBPD wrote:

While cell phone use is not prohibited by Indiana law for the general publicas of yet, legislation has been introduced to ban use of phones while driving as other states have done. In July of 2009, a new law makes it illegal for motorists under age 18 to chat, text, or use a phone to make videos of friends in a car.

Many cities, including South Bend, do restrict this practice to all drivers in certain areas. South Bend ordinance 20-131 bans cell phone use in school zones. Fines range from $75.00 for a first time offense to $250.00 for repeat offenders.

That's right - no cell phone use whatsoever in school zones.  Here's the pertinent part of ordinance Sec. 20-131:

Drivers prohibited to use hand-held mobile telephones, mobile communication devices and telecommunication devices while driving in school crossing zone.
(a) A person violates this article if the person uses a hand-held mobile telephone to engage in a call or uses a mobile communication device or other telecommunication device to send, read, or write a text message, while operating a moving motor vehicle in a school crossing zone

That means even if you have hands-free equipment like a Bluetooth headset, you still can't use your cell phone as you drive through a school zone.  I'm curious to know how SBPD deals with enforcing this ordinance.  With its optional incoming call blocker and automatic activation, ZoomSafer is a great choice for ensuring safe and legal cell phone use - make sure you download it before your next trip to Indiana!

By prohibiting all cell phone use in these specific areas, the city of South Bend has taken a very proactive appraoch to preventing distracted driving in order to make school zones for safe spaces for kids, parents, and drivers.  But what of other distractions?  It would be interesting to know if other forms of dangerous driving are similarly sanctioned - say, fines are doubled for speeding in school zones.

What do you think of this local legislation prohibiting *all* cell phone use in certain areas?