Cell phone Ban tickets Citizens talking on cell phones on “anything that moves”

December 1st, 2009 —  The City of Philadelphia, as of this morning, will no longer handout pink warning slips to drivers who are caught by the Police on their cell phones and instead begin ticketing anyone on their cell phone on anything with wheels.

That includes vehicles, rollerblades, bikes, scooters, skateboards, segways, wheelchairs etc– literally anything with wheels.

It is said that Philadelphia’s new cell phone policy is the most comprehensive cell phone ban in the United States. Should we as citizens be proud that our personal liberties are being stripped away? Or does driving on their cell phone represent a true threat to the safety of others?

A recent study at the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis has estimated crashes caused by cell phone related incidents nationwide amount to about 6% of all crashes. According to a death statistics comparison done on UnitedJustice.com, there are about 6,289,000 crashes per year altogether. +/- 6% of that total, caused by cell phones, would be 409,740.

The new cell phone ban is currently in effect.

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