Texting and driving has risen 50% over the past year. Due to this increase, the city of Mayfield Heights has passed a new law to ban this dangerous hazard.

City Council Member Don Manno is making it his responsibility to enforce this law as soon as possible. It all started when the police department approached him. Manno said, “The police department came to council, myself and councilman DeJohn, and asked us if we would redo the ordinance, moving texting and cellphone use while driving from a misdemeanor offense to a primary offense.”

The law before would not allow a police officer to pull you over for texting and driving. “Before you could not be stopped for being on your phone unless they caught you doing something else. If you were speeding, if you ran a stop sign, if you did something like that, they could stop you for that, and then ticket you for either being on the phone or not having your seatbelt on,” said Manno.

Manno believes that texting and driving is a very serious epidemic, especially with teenagers and young adults.

“The reasons that they had for [this law] were because the incidents of impaired driving has escalated; they’re a lot more accidents from people driving while they’re not paying attention to what they’re doing, [so] they’re distracted. They found in studies that young people are bigger offenders than anybody and that they don’t realizes that in those five to seven seconds of distraction, their car moves 300 feet or more. By the time you look [from your phone] it’s too late to stop,” said Manno.

New driver Samantha Sindyla has also realized the dangers of texting while driving. “When you’re on your phone and driving, you get distracted and even that one millisecond changes everything because you don’t see what’s going on around you and you’re focused on something else. The road is constantly moving, and taking your eyes off for a second could be deadly,” said Sindyla.

Although, trying to get this law enforced hasn’t been an easy task for Manno. “[The police officers] claim they are enforcing it, however, there was a problem because to enforce it properly you have to put notification signs at the entrances of the city. The city hasn’t put the signs up yet because, quite frankly, the mayor really didn’t want it; he doesn’t believe driving with a seat belt.

“Now I brought this matter up 3 times, once before council, twice at block watch meetings with the police department. I have not gotten a satisfactory answer. I guess I just have to keep asking until somebody does something, but they claim that they can’t stop and ticket people unless the warning signs are put up,” said Manno.

High School math teacher Sal Grano feels conflicted about the new law, but also believes it might reduce the risk of car accidents. “I’m not sure how I feel [about the law.] Part of me doesn’t like it because I hold my phone while I’m having conversations. Part of me does think it’s good though because some people do get really distracted,” said Grano.

Manno has noticed texting and driving numerous times throughout his day since he’s on the road so much. “You could drive in your car from Mayfield to SOM Road and see no less than 50 people texting and driving, it’s a serious offense. Now I had a meeting with the chief; he tells me that they are enforcing it. I asked the patrol officers how many tickets they’ve written; nobody can give me an answer.”

Mayfield Heights Resident Chris Agresta is also on the road throughout his day, and he notices multiple people using their cell phone while they’re driving. “It’s ridiculous the number of people who don’t pay attention while they’re driving due to their cell phone. Our whole society is addicted to technology, and hopefully this law will help us keep the number of car accidents under control,” said Agresta.

For the community, Manno has high hopes that the law will have a positive effect.

“I hope [this law] will save a whole bunch of lives. I mean, I’m on the road about 300 miles a week, and I see numerous times people texting and driving, missing their exit and cutting across 3 lanes of traffic, or looking at their text and not looking in front of them. Then traffic stops in front of them and they almost run into cars that are stopped and have to go off the road,” said Manno. 

Once Sindyla started driving, she realized how important it really is to pay attention to the road. Sindyla said, “When the new law came out, I thought it was very strict and kind of ‘too much’ in a sense, but now I understand it. After driving I agree with the law because I’ve seen how easy it is to get distracted, and not using your phone at all helps decrease those distractors.”

As an alternative to physically holding your phone while you drive, Manno recommends using Bluetooth if you have an important conversation to address while you’re driving. “Today’s cars all have Bluetooth; you can get Bluetooth in any car. If you’re on the phone with somebody, you should never have to take your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road,” said Manno.

Manno believes that only positive things can come from this new law if it can be enforced and followed by the city. Manno said, “The whole purpose of any law like this is to cut down on loss of life and injuries. It’s an unsafe thing that has gotten worse as time has gone on, and it’s gotta be addressed.”