By Cyndy Slovak-Barton

At its next meeting, the Kyle city council will likely take up a discussion on hands free cell phones and texting while driving ordinances.

Other cities around the county, along with Austin to the north, have implemented such ordinances to make drivers use hands-free cell phones and other devices.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 1, beginning at 7 p.m. The special city council meeting on Aug. 26 will deal with the ad valorem tax rate for the city.

Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett is expected to assist the council with possible language for the ordinance.

In recent emails, Barnett said the ordinance would include all hand-held devices, including iPods, tablets, iPads, phones and more. Any ordinances, he said, are “obviously subject to the decisions yet to be made by the City Council.”

Barnett reports that, while an exact count is not readily available, a very small number of traffic accidents can be related directly to the use of hand-held devices.

He said he thought that the law itself will be a “strong deterrent” to the distracted drivers, noting that “our officers will be keenly aware of the prohibitions and will enforce the same.”

He expects the enforcement will be done as a normal course of officers’ patrol duties.

The city of Buda recently implemented an ordinance regarding distracted driving, while Wimberley was the “hipster city”, putting such a law in place before it became popular across the state. 

In addition to Buda and Wimberley, the city of San Marcos implemented such an ordinance beginning Jan. 1, 2015.

Dripping Springs Deputy City Manager Ginger Faught said their city council hasn’t seen a need for such a rule and that residents haven’t voiced a concern over the issue.