The city of Troy, Michigan has taken the state’s “no texting while driving” law a bit further, making it illegal to talk on the phone while driving, among other things.
The city's distracted driving ordinance went into effect last July, but the city didn’t officially start to enforce it until the first week of January, 2011. According to the city's website, the following actions can cause "distracted driving":
"Such action can include but is not limited to: eating, reading, writing, performing personal hygiene/grooming, physical interaction with pets, passengers, or unsecured cargo, any of which is done in a manner tat prohibits the driver from maintaining direct physical control of the motor vehicle steering mechanism with at least one hand that is free of all other objects and used entirely to form a controlled grip on the steering mechanism."
Lieutenant Bob Redmond is with the city of Troy police. He describes erratic driving as "going 10 mph in a 35 mph zone, or you turn right on a red in front of oncoming traffic, or you’re weaving in a lane."
Redmond adds that simply drinking coffee in your car isn’t illegal; drinking coffee and driving erratically will likely get you a ticket, which comes with a $100 fine. If you get pulled over a second time, the fine goes up to $200.
So far they’ve issued 13 tickets.
