Wow, TARGETED much? I find it not only convenient but also just a bit alarming the nature of this story.

For some of the posters here, how DARE you call yourselves things like "citizen" when you support the suppression of people's rights? The simply fact of the matter is that NO law should be enacted that does not affect ALL people, including cops, equally.

By your rationale of what is "dangerous", I guess we need to remove all the two way radios and computers from all emergency vehicles, no? After all, the danger is MAGNIFIED by the presence of those devices.

Here's the bottom line, if you don't want to be pinched, hold your phone BELOW THE WINDOWLINE in your car. Set it to SPEAKER. I am here to tell you that this "law" is DUMB. You simply CAN NOT ascertain from OUTSIDE one MOVING car INTO ANOTHER what someone is doing. There simply is NO WAY an officer can truly, honestly tell if someone is talking on their phone or not. PROVE I was talking on my phone...let's take it to court. Show me the VIDEO of me holding a phone.

All this nanny state, gvt butt kissing makes me SICK. You call yourselves AMERICANS?? When virtually every time some FOS politico promises you the world if you juuuuust give up a little more of those precious liberties you all cow-tow? Take those "support the troops" stickers OFF. You spit in their faces every time you go for this LUNACY. And that's ALL it is...LUNACY.

This worthless, pointless, senseless and moronical "law" is exactly that because the "issue" is SO EASILY beaten by simply HOLDING THE PHONE WHERE IT CANNOT BE SEEN. DUUUHHHHH....

Good GOD...WTH IS this country coming to anymore???

FORGET IT! Let's just make EVERYTHING ILLEGAL! Sick, pathetic and twisted. That's all this is...

Ban the cell phone ban. When will this communism stop? Just more of our rights and freedoms being taken away from us. Sad, sad, sad... And why do people here hide behind a false name?

Based upon the plain language of the law, Mr. Dow is guilty. He should've went with Lilletvedt. I'd seek different legal representation. Lindsay Lorang may be pleasant and a very likable person, but she is no rocket scientist.

duh, if your mind is already made up, then you should be honest enough to admit that in voir dire and be excused from the jury pool. This is a bad law forced on the citizens of Havre by a City Council that does not answer to their constituents. Those who voted for this know they will not be voted out because the people of this community will not vote the Dimocraps out of office.

Thank goodness that the cornerstone of our legal system is the concept that you are innocent until proven guilty. (DUH, your alias suits you!) It is great to see so many fiscal conservatives sharing their concerns about the cost to the city of a potential trial. I don't, however, remember that same concern about court costs when CI 148 was passed in 2004. Ted, that probably won't be possible since it would contribute to "global warming!"

"That government is best which governs least." -Thomas Paine

Dow is a typical politician. Does what he wants to and pays no attention to the laws made by due process. Now he is tying up the courts with his child play.

if i were choosen to be on this jury.....GUILTY!!

this is really a silly argument! I drive all the time using one hand, changing the radio station, opening my manual windows, eating or drinking, etc. I learned to drive that way because my first vehicles were manual transmissions. If my current vehicle was a manual transmission, I would have to use one hand to shift gears. And if you are honest, ALL OF YOU has done the same thing! I think it\\\'s incredible that the people of this town do not appear to want this law, but the town council has decided that \\\"they know best\\\" for us. yes, I agree that actually USING/talking on a cell phone while driving is distracting and there are studies to back this up; however, I\\\'m sick of \\\"government\\\" telling me they know best how to keep me safe. I do NOT agree that gesturing with a cell phone in hand should be constituted as \\\"using it\\\". I don\\\'t put my phone on my dashboard because it then becomes a loose object in the car and can become damaged; that doesn\\\'t mean that I want someone to tell me that I have to carry it in the truck, either! And I notice that all the above comments are anonymous; I\\\'m not!

this is really a silly argument! I drive all the time using one hand, changing the radio station, opening my manual windows, eating or drinking, etc. I learned to drive that way because my first vehicles were manual transmissions. If my current vehicle was a manual transmission, I would have to use one hand to shift gears. And if you are honest, ALL OF YOU has done the same thing! I think it's incredible that the people of this town do not appear to want this law, but the town council has decided that "they know best" for us. yes, I agree that actually USING/talking on a cell phone while driving is distracting and there are studies to back this up; however, I'm sick of "government" telling me they know best how to keep me safe. I do NOT agree that gesturing with a cell phone in hand should be constituted as "using it". I don't put my phone on my dashboard because it then becomes a loose object in the car and can become damaged; that doesn't mean that I want someone to tell me that I have to carry it in the truck, either! And I notice that all the above comments are anonymous; I'm not!

OMG! I always wondered about Mr Dow, now I know for sure that he is a subsersive element in Havre. Burning at the stake would be to good for him! Woody, get the fire started', we can tolerate no more of this behavior.

...then make the burger illegal also. I wonder if he'd hit someone, while "gesticulating with it in his hand", it would have, perhaps, finally made some sense, or if he'd continue to make excuses, and back-pedal, like a child who has been caught doing something wrong, and refuses to accept responsibility.

Laws like this are completely unnecessary, there are already laws in place for driving issues and destruction of property and life. Why ticket drivers who are doing nothing wrong? Reckless driving is already in place. Simply put, the reason this law was even brought up in our community is because an authoritarian council member was hit by someone using a cell phone. So say is this person had been mustarding a hot dog while driving and hit him, would we demand a ban on the mustarding of hot dogs. Fact is, cell phone use is much less dangerous than the other distractions on the road (passengers, eating, children, the world outside the car, putting on make up, drinking beverages, etc) The list goes on. We might as well just out right ban driving because there is a chance some idiot will run someone over or damage some property just because they are terrible drivers.

This is simply a tax against innocent people. Those of you who are concerned with this should have much bigger concerns on the world. SOPA, PIPA, NDAA just to name a few.

Appears to me by Mr. Dow's own admission he is guilty of section C. Pretty simple.

As the law is written, it looks to me like these guys have admitted guilt despite their plea. They should get fined a little extra for wasting the court's time.

6-1-19: ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE USAGE WHILE DRIVING PROHIBITED:



(A) Prohibited: No person shall use or have in their immediate physical possession a handheld electronic communications device while operating a motor vehicle, motorcycle, quadricycle, or a bicycle on a public highway within the city limits.



(B) Devices: "Handheld electronic communications device" includes wireless or cellular phones, PDAs, Blackberries, smartphones, laptop and notebook computers utilizing VoIP (voice over internet protocol) technology, wireless and cellular phones utilizing push-to-talk technology, GPS systems, navigational systems, and any other mobile communication device that uses shortwave analog or digital radio transmissions between the device and a transmitter to permit wireless communications to and from the user of the device.



(C) Possession: "Immediate physical possession" means touching the handheld electronic communications device, or physically holding the device in one's hand or up to one's ear.

A jury trial for this? What a waste of taxpayer money and time. If I got called in for this jury I would be extremely upset.

Yep, real crimes like hitting people and other vehicles because of cell phone use. The stats on hitting people with burger in hand are considerably lower. Grow up.

Actually, there is no right to have a burger or Subway sandwich in your hand while driving . . . nor a book, nor makeup, nor a cd, nor anything, if it may distract your driving. Law enforcement can stop and cite for those behaviors, too. We have a specific ordinance addressing cell phone usage while driving in this community because cell phone use while driving has proven to be statistically as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol, and our elected representatives seek to prevent a tragedy in this community. I'm tired of seeing near misses between vehicles driven by folks chatting on the phone. People should be concentrating on driving when they are driving, period. Why is Rick Dow not keeping both hands on the wheel whenever possible while driving with his young children - his most precious cargo - in his vehicle? I can't believe the amount of energy going into this 'controversy'; vehicles can be deadly weapons when handled unsafely, so put all the distractions down and drive, already!

Man up you guys. You got caught and now you are crying in your beer.

WOW.. I GUESS I AM GUILTY OF BREAKING THE LAW TOO.. I SEEM TO ALWAYS BE HOLDING MY PHONE WHILE DRIVING JUST FROM HABBIT.. THIS DEFINETLY SHOULD BE DISMISSED. ITS NOT WORTH A JURIES TIME; AND OUR LAW ENFORCMENT SHOULD BE OUT THERE GETTING PEOPLE COMITTING REAL CRIMES.

I love it!