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GREENVILLE JOURNAL G REENVILLEJOURNAL.COM | Friday, January 31, 2014 | Vol.16, No.5
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BEST USE QUESTION PUT THE PHONE DOWN Greenville is on the verge of becoming the first in S.C. to ban hand-held devices while driving
PHOTO BY GREG BECKNER, ILLUSTRATION BY KRISTY ADAIR
JOE TOPPE and APRIL A. MORRIS | STAFF
jtoppe@communityjournals.com amorris@communityjournals.com
O
n the verge of becoming the state’s first municipality to ban the use of hand-held devices while driving, the city of Greenville is preparing a monthlong educational campaign to inform the public of the changes ahead.
Greenville City Council gave first reading approval Monday night to an ordinance that bans motorists inside the city limits from talking and texting on hand-held mobile devices – a definition that includes cellphones, personal digital assistants, computers, tablets and “any substantially similar” wireless device. City police could begin issuing citations on April 1.
If the ordinance receives final approval Feb. 10 as expected, the impact could extend far beyond Greenville’s city limits. Other Greenville County municipalities have indicated they are considering bans of their own, both in response to Greenville’s new ordinance and to the Legislature’s repeated failure to address the dangers of texting while driving. HAND-HELD BAN continued on PAGE 8
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