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CHAPEL HILL Cellphones are one step closer to being banned for drivers in Chapel Hill.

The council voted 7-2 Monday night to continue discussing a ban on talking on cellphones while driving in Chapel Hill.

Council members Gene Pease and Matt Czajkowski dissented. Pease said the issue should be regulated by the state, and Czajkowski questioned whether the town has the legal authority to enact a ban.

The ban would prohibit hand-held phone calls or both hand-held and hands-free calls while driving. The ordinance would apply to all streets townwide, including state-owned roads. Drivers would be allowed to make emergency calls, and calls with a spouse, parent or child. Violators would be fined $ 25.

Last year the state attorney general said the town did not have the authority to enact a cellphone ban. Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos disagrees. In a memo, Karpinos wrote that there is no statutory or case law that directly prohibits a local ban.

Czajkowski said it would be folly for the Town Council to pass a ban without confirming that it had the jurisdiction to enforce one.

“If we lead or we attempt to lead and the state concludes subsequently that we didn’t have the authority, we’ve done more harm than good,” he said.

Karpinos said if someone challenges the legality of the rules with a lawsuit, he…………… continues on Charlotte Observer

A North Carolina man who recently arrived in the Lehigh Valley visited a downtown Bethlehem bar, agreed to give another man a ride home and while heading to a place to land some drugs stabbed the man twice in a dispute over a cell phone, according to court records.

The suspect, Thomas William Roof, 34, admitted to police that he stabbed Michael Rivera, who suffered a collapsed lung and had to have part of his small intestines removed. Rivera was “in recovery,” the records say. Police had not been able to interview Rivera.

Police encountered Roof early Saturday when he allegedly drove the wrong way on Linden Street near Liberty High School. He was driving a blue Kia Sportage with a North Carolina license plate. An officer noticed Roof had a badly cut right index finger and saw a folding knife that was open and lying on the passenger seat. Roof also appeared to be drunk, the records say.

A criminal complaint gives the following details:

Police stopped Roof around 3:30 a.m. after noticing the wrong-way driving. His cut finger “was bleeding a lot.” Paramedics took Roof to St. Luke’s Hospital-Fountain Hill. At the hospital, he refused a police officer’s request to take a blood-alcohol test.

While officer…………… continues on Patch.com

CHAPEL HILL — You can weigh in Monday on a proposal to ban talking on a cellphone while driving.

The Chapel Hill Town Council is considering a proposal to ban hand-held phone calls or both hand-held and hands-free calls while driving. The ordinance would apply to all streets town-wide, including state-owned roads.

The council previously looked at banning talking on the phone while driving on town-owned roads, but council members said that would confuse drivers because many main roads in Chapel Hill such as Franklin Street are state-owned.

Those caught talking on the phone while driving would be fined $ 25. Exceptions would be made for emergency calls to a law-enforcement agency, health-care provider or emergency room.

Former council member Joe Capowski asked for the ban last year, but the town deferred as the state considered a ban. Chapel Hill would be the first town in North Carolina to enact such a ban.

Texting while driving is currently illegal in North Carolina.

Karen Turner’s brother was killed in August 2010 by a driver who was texting behind the wheel. Turner, who lives in Asheville, supports banning all cellphone use while driving and plans to tell her brother’s story to the council Monday night.

Joel Severson, 39, was on his way to work on his motorcycle…………… continues on News & Observer

Cell phones connect you socially, but they may also make you less socially minded.

Cell phones keep us socially connected, but new research suggests they actually reduce users’ social consciousness. In fact, the study showed that cell phone use was linked to more selfish behavior.

Researchers from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business found that after a short period of cell phone use, people were less likely to partake in “prosocial” behavior — actions that are intended to help another person or society — compared with a control group. For example, after using a cell phone, study participants were more likely to turn down volunteer opportunities and were less persistent in completing word problems, even though they knew their answers would provide money…………… continues on TIME

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CHAPEL HILL — The Town Council voted unanimously Monday to consider a ban on using a cellphone while driving on town streets.

“It’s a rare week that goes by that I don’t encounter a driver (talking on a cellphone) weaving much as a drunk driver,” said George Cianciolo, a member of the planning board. “I think the problem has gotten way beyond any position where we can ignore it anymore.”

But the circumstances of an accident between two UNC-Chapel Hill students that is bringing the ban to the fore for the Town Council are being questioned.

Joe Capowski, a retired UNC professor, is lobbying for the ban, along with UNC-CH student Krista Slough.

In September, a car driven by Kaylie Nicole Gibson of Apex, also a UNC-CH student, hit Slough. Gibson was charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Capowski said Gibson hit Slough because she was …………… continues on News & Observer