Meridian Drivers: Hand-Held Devices Now Banned

Driving in Meridian? Don't even think about touching that phone.

Sure texting and driving is outlawed in Idaho-- in fact, the only traffic ticket I've ever received was for checking my email while driving. In Meridian, however, being on the phone AT ALL is now illegal. Under the Idaho law, using your phone for directions and GPS would be permissible-- this is a loophole Meridian has now closed within its own city limits.

On Tuesday night, Meridian City Council voted to tackle this issue of cell phone use in the city while folks are driving and the vote came to a 3-3 tie. When ties like this happen in the City Council voting process, it is up to the Mayor to come in, vote, and break that tie. Meridian Mayor Tammy de Weerd stepped in and voted in favor of the ban, making the final vote 4-3. She was quoted saying that this is simply a public safety issue.

The strict city law bans use of your hand-held device while in the lane of traffic. It doesn't matter if your vehicle is moving or stopped.

Meridian is the first city in the Treasure Valley that has moved to put a law like this into place. Other cities in the State of Idaho that have made the move to laws like this are: Ketchum, Hailey, Pocatello, and Idaho Falls.