Good manners
City tries to legislate driving etiquette in Gallup

A driver on Maloney Avenue talks on her cell phone while stopped at a red light on Wednesday. Gallup's new "distracted while driving" ordinance makes it a crime to talk on the cell phone while driving. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Gaye Brown de Alvarez
Staff writer

GALLUP — Put that cell phone down. Pay attention.

On Dec. 9, 2008, the city passed a “driving while distracted” ordinance.

No more talking on the phone while driving.

No more Big Macs. No more Chapstick. No shaving. No taking off jackets. No more policing good behavior for children in the back seat.

Anyone caught driving while distracted is supposed to receive a citation up to $500 and/or 90-day sentence for the second offense in a five-year period of time. The law is similar to ordinances in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. City officials hoped to cut down on accidents caused by inattentive drivers, which national statistics show cause more accidents that drunken drivers.

This applies to drivers within the city limits only, since it is a city ordinance.

Gallup Police Chief Robert Cron said in an interview Monday that the ordinance went into effect on Jan. 9 and the ordinance specified “tending to anything but driving.”

Anything?

What about teenagers jamming to hip-hop? What about babies crying? What about changing radio stations? Is the ordinance even enforceable? Has anyone been cited?

“It’s crazy,” Theresa Yazzie, the cashier at Mustang 7557 at the East Y, said. “Especially the 90-day jail sentence.”

Every once in a while she will talk on her cell phone traveling between her house, which is “near Gallup,” and her job. “But I don’t text.”

“I know about it,” said Ursula Lewis of Gallup. She doesn’t have a driver’s license yet, but she turns 16 years old on Feb. 26 and can’t wait to get her license. “I won’t text or talk on the phone. It’s not a good idea.”

Cron said he was not aware of any citations given to drivers for driving while distracted.

“Texting is a big thing, I think you should be pulled over,” said Edie McDaniel of Gallup. “This law should be geared to teenagers. I’ve never texted while driving.”

“I talked to the officials in Santa Fe and Albuquerque,” Cron said. “They have the same ordinance, and I expect the same problems that they’re having.”

Cron said that the busiest time of day, when people most use their cell phones while driving is around 5 p.m., or during “rush hour.” But, he said that is also the busiest time for officers also. This is when there are the most traffic problems to which officers must attend.