Archive of posts for March, 2009:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Tom Barnes
HARRISBURG — A Montgomery County legislator has gotten a double boost in his controversial effort to outlaw motorists from talking on hand-held cell phones while they’re behind the wheel.
A survey by the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research, released Wednesday, showed that 71 percent of the 662 respondents favor banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving as a way to keep motorists focused on the road.
The Morning Call’s John L. Micek and Josh Drobnyk report:
Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly support a ban on using hand-held cell phones while driving, a new poll shows. It’s a move the state Legislature has resisted for years.
By 85 percent to 13 percent, voters in the Quinnipiac University survey back a proposal that would make the practice illegal.
Support was widespread among all voters, regardless of their political affiliation. Cell-phone users — four out of five of the respondents — were equally supportive.
Mike Wereschagin in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
State Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery County, applauded the poll’s findings that 71 percent support his bill to ban handheld cell phone use while driving.
“It is something that people understand, today better than ever before, will save lives on our roadways. And it’s not much of an inconvenience for drivers to simply use a headset to carry on a conversation,” Shapiro said.
Terri Alderfer writing for The Ambler Gazette:
Upper Dublin High School students and alumni of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Schools of Excellence are fighting against Gov. Ed Rendell’s decision to cut funding for the summer enrichment schools, and took their fight to all the way to Harrisburg March 10.
When 12 UDHS students heard Feb. 4 that the eight governor’s schools would be cut from the state budget, they got together to do something about it. They knew about an existing online petition written by some PGSE for the Arts alumni that had attracted 11,000 signatures against the budget cuts, but wanted to do better. So they decided to write their own letter, made thousands of copies, got individual signatures for each one and took them directly to the governor’s office.
Jeff Shields in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
State Rep. Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery) has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would ban handheld use. Shapiro said any measure to make roads safer was a “good step.”
“That being said, I do think there is a need for uniform standards,” Shapiro said.
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