Police chief eyes ban on motorists’ cell phone use

PORTLAND – If Police Chief Michael Chitwood gets his way, Portland will become the first community in Maine to make it illegal to talk on a cellular phone while driving.

Chitwood plans to ask the City Council’s Public Safety Committee to support an ordinance that would make driving while using a cell phone punishable by a $50 fine for the first offense.

The law would include an exemption for emergency personnel on duty.

“I saw a guy this morning on Middle Street at 8 a.m. with a cell phone in his ear and he’s writing, as I was standing in the crosswalk,” Chitwood said Thursday, two days after Brookline, Mass., banned the use of phones while driving.

Chitwood said he plans to gather data on links between cell phone use and traffic accidents in the city. He also plans to research how similar ordinances have fared elsewhere in the country.

Local governments in other states, including New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also banned hand-held cell phones this year. Brooklyn, Ohio, enacted the country’s first such law last March.

Chitwood said he used to talk while driving himself, but no longer does.

Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion installed a microphone on the visor of his car to enable him to talk while keeping both hands on the wheel, but often pulls over when speaking on the cell phone.

“When I speak, I like to use my hands, even if I’m on the phone,” he said.