VILLA RICA, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
The Villa Rica City Council voted Tuesday on a new distracted driver ordinance that some say is more controversial than one passed earlier this year.
Tuesday night, council voted 3 to 2 against forcing motorists to use a hands free device while talking on the cell phone.
The new proposal would not only have required hands-free cell phone use but would have also banned other activities that distract drivers, including everything from eating to brushing your hair.
The council passed a cell phone use ordinance in May but the mayor vetoed it. He said it is an issue the state should take up, not a small city like Villa Rica.
Councilman Woody Holland drafted the latest proposal. Tuesday night he told council, "The use of a cell phones is equally if not more so, in certain situations as dangerous as a DUI."
Mayor J. Collins is pleased with the no vote on Tuesday.
"I'm not surprised. At the end of the day the council made the right decision. I can say councilman Holland was in the right place trying to make Villa Rica a safe place," said Collins.
Before the meeting Mayor Collins told CBS Atlanta News, "We shouldn't be a trendsetter ." He noted his city would become the first in Georgia to require hands-free cell phone use.
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