The Florence City Council voted 5-1 banning texting while driving during their July 5 regular meeting. The ban includes the usage of any wireless communication device while operating a vehicle. This made texting while driving an offense punishable by a $100 fine and up to 10 days in jail on the first offense.

The official city ordinance provides that a wireless communication device is a cellular phone or any cellular, digital, analog, or wireless device or computer. This also means besides texting, drivers are prohibited from sending or receiving pictures, videos, e-mails, instant messages or any other form of Internet usage. While the usage of a GPS is allowed, the programming of such devices is not. Drivers should set the destination in their GPS prior to operating their vehicle.

There are some exceptions to the ordinance, which include using phones to make or receive calls, texting while the car is parked or in neutral in a location that is not part of the highway, street or roadway that is intended for moving traffic and using a phone to make emergency calls.

The ordinance was voted in by the city council as a means of making driving safer for the people of Florence.

“If people aren’t texting so much, it’s bound to make the streets safer,” said Deputy Chief Tim Shaddix, of the Florence Police Department.

“We are all guilty, but we should decide today to not text while driving not because of this new ban, but because we value our lives and more importantly the lives of those around us,” said UNA student Whitney Rowe.

It is important for students to be aware of the new law and monitor their usage of wireless devices while driving. While the practice of texting while driving is not by a city ordinance rather than state law, UNA Police are still legally able to issue citations to individuals choosing to disobey the ordinance. According to UNA police Chief Bob Pastula, campus police are not currently making the ordinance a top priority but are remaining aware of it while monitoring campus.

“Any area where someone is walking through an area with drivers could be more dangerous if they’re texting since they would be less likely to see the pedestrian,” Pastula said.

Pastula said the decision on whether or not to issue a citation is currently a judgment call on the part of the individual officer.

“Warnings have been issued but no tickets have been issued yet, to the best of my knowledge,” Shaddix said.