CATTARAUGUS COUNTY
Ban approved on texting while driving
LITTLE VALLEY — A majority of Cattaraugus County legislators decided not to wait for the State Senate to vote on a ban of text messaging while driving.
For the sake of public safety, the Legislature voted, 18-2, Wednesday to approve the ban. As of Aug. 1, any driver caught using a wireless hand set to send, read or compose a text message while driving could face a fine of $150.
However, passage of a state law would make the county statute moot, officials noted. That possibility generated some arguments Wednesday.
Michael T. O’Brien, R-Portville, asked to send the measure back to the Public Safety and County Operations committees to await the outcome in the State Senate.
Sponsor John Padlo, D-Olean, urged no delay, noting he had waited for some time before introducing the measure, due to the State Senate stalemate.
He cited his own research and a local media outlet poll that showed that 408 of 477 respondents favor the county ban on text messaging behind the wheel.
Padlo also pointed to a list of more than a dozen other counties in the state that have banned the practice.
“It’s a more common form of communication, [and] younger people are establishing a behavior they won’t able to change, and it will result in a terrible car accident,” Padlo said.
Several other lawmakers agreed. Though Jim Snyder, R-Olean, pointed out some of the pitfalls the legislation, he noted, “Nobody in their right mind would vote against it.”
Bill Aiello, R-Olean, predicted the State Senate will pass the bill because it’s common sense. “It’s a sad day when we have to legislate common sense,” he said.
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