After the passage of Ohio’s texting and driving law on June 1, the City Council  passed its own law on June 19, making Beachwood the first community in the area with a law stricter than the state’s.

Beachwood’s law passed unanimously, banning all use of electronic devices while driving. It is still permitted to operate technology hands free and make phone calls in case of an emergency. Furthermore, city employees are still allowed to use technology when necessary to perform their job.

Ohio’s law prohibits adults from texting at the wheel, while teens cannot manipulate any technological device while operating a vehicle. Beachwood and Ohio have the same exceptions to the law. For minors, violating the law is a primary offense, while for adults it is a secondary offense.

The Council has been considering a texting and driving law for the past three years, but wanted to wait for the state to take action first, said Beachwood Mayor and Safety Director Merle Gordon.

“I think it should be clear that we’re controlling the use of cell phones [on the road], but we’re not eliminating them,” said Gordon.

The Beachwood and Ohio laws have the same penalty, an $101 fine and addition of two points to the offender’s license. Because Beachwood is a relatively affluent community, the fine will only mask the problem, said Safety Director Gordon.

“The impression we wanted to give the municipality is that we are serious about this, and when you have points on your license it becomes a little more serious,” said Gordon.

“To get a ticket and points and to pay a fine? That is a lot. Yes, I believe this will curb people’s texting behavior,” said Beachwood parent Julie Rubenstein.

Beachwood has also decided to enforce the same penalty on teens and adults.

“If you’re old enough to drive and have a license, you should be sensible enough to obey the rules of the road,” said Gordon.

However, while the law is made to discourage texting while driving, the essential work comes in implementing it. Beachwood Police officer Aaron Lieb said he does not feel strongly for or against the law, but he does not think it will be too hard to enforce.

However, Beachwood graduate Elijah Balogh, who has been driving for over two years, thinks otherwise.

“To be quite honest, while I do feel the law will have some effect on the levels of texting and driving, overall I feel there will be very little improvement. I already have friends who just text below the windshield so that the cops can’t see them texting.” said Balogh, who admitted to occasional texting and driving.

“We have all gotten so sloppy with our attention, focusing on driving and keeping our eyes on the road. I for one, sadly, am guilty…But I am training myself, I actually do pull my car over, stop the car and text,” said Rubenstein.

However, Lieb said that the department has already been stopping a number of cars, and their main challenge is spreading the news about the new ordinance.

Regardless of the difficulties, Mayor Gordon stated, “the problem is not unique to Beachwood, but Beachwood is offering a unique solution.”