A man drives in downtown South Bend while using a cellphone. Staff photo by SANTIAGO FLORES/
SOUTH BEND — Despite its sponsor saying he doesn’t think police will enforce it “vigorously,” the South Bend Common Council Monday night unanimously passed a citywide hands-free mobile phone ordinance.
“But I think, as with most laws, most folks who are made aware of the law will want to follow the law,” said Council Member Gavin Ferlic, who introduced the bill for first reading in August.
The city enacted a similar ban within school zones in 2009, but police haven’t written a ticket for violations since 2013, according to records The Tribune obtained from the city clerk’s office.
Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski, who did not attend the meeting, said it’s illegal for him to direct officers to enforce the law, or any law, because they have discretion on whom to cite and arrest.
But he said he thinks more officers will write tickets under the citywide ban because unlike the school zone ordinance, the officer doesn’t have to prove the driver was on a phone call at the time. Under the new ordinance, the officer only needs to see the driver handling and pushing buttons on the phone.
The much larger geographical area also should lead to more tickets written, Ruszkowski said, while noting they will be prioritized with other incidents demanding the officer’s attention at the time. Ruszkowski cited the example of an officer who sees a driver handling a phone while driving in the opposite direction as the officer is on his way to grab a bite to eat.
“The objective to make that U-turn to stop them is, ‘I don’t want you to die or kill somebody,’” Ruszkowski said.
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