Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson Says Texting While Driving Ban Was “Worst Ordinance He’d Ever Seen” [AUDIO]

On Friday's edition of Lubbock's First News, Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson talked with Tom Collins and Laura Mac about the latest coming out of city council.

There has been a lot of discussion around town surrounding a possible texting while driving ban in the city of Lubbock. However, that ordinance was indefinitely postponed at Thursday night's city council meeting. Robertson said that this was just another feel-good ordinance with no real teeth behind it, and added that it was one of the worst and poorly-written he had ever seen.

"We had three council members bring forth an ordinance last night: Councilman Gibson, Councilman Gerlt and Councilman Hernandez. And they were proposing an ordinance to ban texting while driving within the city limits of Lubbock. I read the ordinance Friday evening, and was absolutely horrified by it. It was one of the worst written, worst ordinance I've ever seen on any subject, and I stated so publicly. And although I have a lot of concerns about texting and driving, I really do, this ordinance was just bad."

Robertson went on to say that if there has to be legislation on texting and driving, it should either be a complete ban on all handheld devices, or no ban at all. However, he did praised Councilwoman Karen Gibson for deciding to postpone the matter until more research can be done on the subject.

Another topic receiving a lot of public attention recently has been whether or not Lubbock needs tornado sirens. Robertson said there has been a lot of pressure for the council to take immediate action on the matter. However, there are still too many unknown, important factors, such as the cost of constructing and maintaining the towers, and how many towers the city would need.

Robertson stressed that the council would not act on a knee-jerk reaction, and he has established a tornado siren "task force" to do the necessary research and determine whether it's something the city can do. Robertson also discussed the expansion to the new animal shelter, as well as the latest with the Victor Hernandez recall election.

You can listen to Mayor Glen Robertson Friday mornings at 7 AM after every city council meeting, only on NewsTalk 790 KFYO and online at KFYO.com.