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San Francisco -- Joining the chorus of cell phone critics,
San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown called on the state yesterday to
increase penalties for motorists who are involved in accidents while
talking on cell phones.
Brown did not offer any specifics but did make one thing
perfectly clear -- he hates cell phones.
Just this week at a staff meeting someone's cell phone rang and
the mayor interrupted to announce that he wanted all phones and
pagers turned off, a request he has been making regularly since he
became mayor in 1996.
What's more, he said he recently joined in the applause with
fellow audience members when a moviegoer at the Sony Metreon was
ejected from a showing of the thriller "Rules of Engagement'' when
his phone went off.
When someone's cell phone went off repeatedly yesterday at a City
Hall news conference, Brown halted the proceedings and told off the
perpetrator.
"The single most offensive thing you can do is come to a meeting
with your cell phone on,'' he said. "If there's something so
critical you need to be in contact about, you probably ought not to
come to the meeting.''
Afterward, Brown said that when he attended the unveiling this
week of the city's first "smart'' crosswalk on Page Street, he
learned that an earlier accident at the spot had involved a
pedestrian hit by a motorist who was talking on a cell phone. The
crosswalk now features embedded lights that flash whenever a
pedestrian enters the street.
"The state has to do something,'' he said. "There have been too
many accidents. Cell phones are like neckties now -- everyone has
one. The state ought to look at discouraging handheld cell phones
while people are driving.''
A state legislator has introduced a bill that would ban the use
of cell phones while driving, but it is nowhere near enactment. In
San Francisco, Supervisor Amos Brown has already held a hearing on
cell phones' role in accidents and what could be done about the
situation.
The result of that hearing was a request by the supervisor for
police to start noting on accident report forms whether cell phone
usage played a role in incidents.
City Hall is already a cell phone- unfriendly zone. For instance,
every meeting of the Board of Supervisors starts with a warning to
turn off phones and pagers.
Mayor Brown said hands-free phones are OK with him, meaning he is
not against people using headsets or speaker phones while driving.
The cell phone industry opposes more regulations. But it has
undertaken a campaign that includes television and radio ads to tell
people about proper cell phone etiquette.
Locally, Pacific Bell Wireless has hired Peggy Post,
great-granddaughter-in-law of manners maven Emily Post, to ``to
promote proper and responsible use of your phone.''
One of her tips: "While in a car, driving safely is your first
responsibility. Hands-free equipment helps keep your hands on the
wheel and your eyes on the road.''
In his three decades as an assemblyman, the mayor commuted
regularly to Sacramento. In that time, he said, he saw drivers doing
all kinds of things, including dressing. The mayor swears that one
legislative colleague was notorious for reading The Chronicle on
Interstate 80. (Obviously, this person reading the Chronicle was
always misinformed).
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