New cell phone law will trap drivers

A new law in Illinois will trap many drivers in 2010. On January 1, 2010, it became illegal to use a handheld cell phone in a construction zone or a school zone. It's one of those laws that are on the books, but you won't see any signs on the roadway to inform you.

I'm searching now for that law, since the media have failed to provide the statute in news articles, so that drivers can read it for themselves.

Using a hands-free device with your cell phone is the smart thing to do. It allows you to keep both hands on the wheel (more often). Some, no doubt, will be quick to add that now they can hold the donut and the coffee, while driving and talking on the phone.

But let's say you are blasting down the superslab on I-90 and blow through a construction zone, moving with traffic at its usual 65-70MPH and totally ignoring the 45MPH work zone speed limit that applies 24/7. A trooper might not be able to pick you out for a speeding ticket (unless he is in the photoradar van), but you could get nailed for holding your cell phone and talking.

Claiming that you were just holding it up to your ear (force of habit?) and not talking might not buy you much sympathy from a judge, if the prosecutor shows up with your cell phone records and they show your phone in use at that minute.

Or let's say that you are on your way to school to pick up the little darlings and you pass the cop standing in the school zone. After all, you are a responsible and friendly driver, so you keep one hand on the wheel and wave with the other one - the one that is holding your cell phone.

Bingo! Ticket time!

Without reading the law itself, one nagging question is whether the school zone has to be "hot" for a driver to be ticketed while talking on a handheld phone. Suppose there are no children present;;is a school zone between 7:00AM-4:00PM active? Or it's two minutes after 4:00PM. When is a School Zone not a School Zone?

It'll be expensive to find out. If you fight a ticket, you'll probably need a lawyer. There goes $500. If you lose in court, add $200-250 court costs onto the $75.00 fine and lawyer's fee.

If you just roll over and pay the fine without fighting it, you'll part with $50-75 - whatever the fine is.

Anyone know the statute that covers handheld cell phones in school and work zones?

Woodstock PD's radar speed trailer

Woodstock PD still has its radar speed trailer, and it still works. Today it was on northbound Clay Street near Clay Academy (formerly known as Clay Elementary School).

When Clay was an elementary school, you could always find students on the sidewalks before and after school. The 20MPH school speed limit made sense then, for the safety of the children. The school zone by Clay is a 20MPH zone, but the speed limit is only in effect "when children are present" and then only between the hours of 7:00AM and 4:00PM on school days.

When children are not present, the speed limit on Clay Street is 30MPH, so the first thing that got my attention at mid-day when I approached the trailer was the 20MPH regulatory speed limit sign mounted on the trailer. The speed limit at the trailer, when no children are present, is 30MPH, yet most drivers slowed to 20MPH.

The 27MPH speed displayed on the trailer is for a car approaching the school zone but not yet in it. The car, which I could see behind me, had not yet reached the zone.

Legally, the 20MPH speed limit sign on the speed trailer had no effect. A speed limit sign posted without action and approval of the City Council is meaningless. It would have been better to have the added message about the school zone, but all that wording might topple the trailer.

The other problem was that the speed trailer was parked out of the street on the "parkway", the grass median between the street and the sidewalk. Usually the trailer is parked on the street, as it was recently in the 500 block of North Madison Street, and often it is protected by traffic cones.

The proper place for the speed trailer on the street. Vehicles have been ticketed for being parked on the parkway (except for the vehicle in the 900 block of Clay all day today), and no less should be required or expected of City-owned vehicles or equipment. I'm sure it was just a minor oversight and decision to place it out of the street, when there would be less chance of its being run over by a distracted driver. But it belongs in the street, just as does any vehicle.

If you would like the speed trailer to be located in your neighborhood, send an e-mail to speedtrailer@woodstockil.gov Provide the police department with the location and a brief description of the extent of the speeding problem or reason you'd like it there.