A vote Thursday night by the Huntsville city council could make it illegal to hold a phone while driving a vehicle in the Rocket City.

The city ordinance, sponsored by Councilman David Little, would beef up a new state law on using phones while driving with the aim of combatting distracted driving – even while quantifying that issue remains elusive.

• Read the full proposed ordinance below

The city said that in traffic accidents, identifying distracted driving as a cause is difficult because it essentially requires an admission by the at-fault driver. Such admissions are rare and other causes are often involved in traffic accidents at the same time.

Little said he has reviewed police reports on traffic accidents in Huntsville – the hotspots for accidents and a list of most common causes: Following too close, failure to yield, improper speed, improper land change, running red lights and stop signs.

“You think, ‘How many of these were because of distractions,’” Little said. “It’s real hard to track that data because you basically have to have a court order saying I want to look at your cell phone records unless the person that caused the wreck fesses up to say, ‘I was on my phone.’”

A report on traffic accident causes compiled by the city this week following a request by AL.com appears to confirm Little’s point. A city analysis of traffic accidents from 2017-2022 attributed only 0.6 percent of all accidents to “distracted by use of electronic communication device.” Another category, “distracted by use of other electronic device,” accounted for another .16 percent of accidents.

“Following too close” and “misjudging stopping distance” combined to account for about 27 percent of all accidents – by far the two most cited accident causes in the city analysis.

In fatal and “serious” accidents, the city’s numbers were similar relating to cell phones – the cause of .66 percent of such accidents. Driving under the influence was the most common cause of fatal and serious accidents at 9.11 percent.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,522 people were killed in 2021 by distracted drivers – which includes cell phone use but also includes distractions such as eating or adjusting the stereo or passengers.

For Little, this is a personal issue. He and his family were in a head-on collision in 2008 with a distracted driver who Little said acknowledged being on their phone. Little spent two weeks in the hospital and several more weeks in a wheelchair. Since then, he has worked as an advocate to stop distracted driving and had visions of introducing his ordinance last year when he was running for the council.

He has also lobbied the state legislature to pass a hands-free device law. That finally occurred this year but the law was “watered down,” Little said, in that it only prohibits holding your phone while their vehicle “crosses in or out of a traffic lane without using a turn signal, the vehicle swerves, or the vehicle is otherwise operated in an impaired manner,” the bill signed into law said.

Democrats in the legislature opposed a tougher law because they said it could lead to racial profiling while lawmakers also noted that a hands-free device law would not eliminate all distractions for a driver.

Little’s proposal is more stringent. Essentially, it prohibits using a phone while driving unless it’s connected to a Bluetooth system or is on speakerphone mode or any other mechanism that would eliminate handling the phone itself. A first conviction would result in a $100 fine or imprisonment up to 10 days while a second conviction within two years of the first would be a $200 fine or imprisonment up to 30 days.

The new state law, which went into effect in June, calls for a $50 fine on the first offense and a driver can only be charged if stopped for another violation, such as speeding.

The proposal would also beef up Huntsville’s current law on using cell phones while driving – which only outlaws sending or receiving digital message such as emails or text messages. The prohibition also does not allow for police to initiate a traffic stop.

Under Little’s proposal, Huntsville police would be authorized to initiate a traffic stop if they see a driver holding their phone. Little said Huntsville police reviewed his proposal and supported it.

“They were all for it across the board,” he said. “They see it all the time. And they probably know it causes lots of wrecks. But they just can’t do anything. So I think they’re happy to maybe see the roads become a little safer, too.”

If the council votes to approve the ordinance, it will go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.