City Council may soon consider an ordinance making it illegal to text or use mobile devices while driving.

Sugar Land Assistant Chief of Police Scott Schultz gave a presentation to the City Council at its May 3 workshop meeting about the possibility of instituting an ordinance on the issue.

“In Sugar Land, there have been 107 accidents that may have been caused or partially caused by the use of a mobile device,” Schultz said.

The City Council did not make any decisions but came to a consensus that it would like more information, which was presented at a May 24 workshop meeting.

The Sugar Land Police Department came to the City Council with the presentation after determining that distracted driving via mobile device was an issue, said Doug Adolph, assistant director of communications for Sugar Land.

The department drafted two ordinances. A less restrictive proposal called Ordinance A would make it illegal to “use a hand-held mobile device for texting or social media while driving.” A driver could still use a device to make a phone call, however.

“It’s difficult to cite a violation [in that case],” Schultz said. “A driver can simply state that they weren’t texting, they were making a phone call or dialing a number instead of using the alphabet.”

That ordinance would also require a search warrant for police to get into the phone to check what activity was actually performed, Schultz said.

The alternative proposal, known as Ordinance B, would make it illegal to use a hand-held device in the car unless it is on hands-free or Bluetooth mode.

An exception to that would be if the car was pulled over to the side of the road, not in motion or the driver was making an emergency call.

“Essentially what this does is that it makes the city of Sugar Land a school zone when it comes to the use of a hand-held device,” Schultz said.

In 2015, the police department issued 87 citations in school zones to people using mobile devices while driving, he said.

Schultz said Ordinance B is generally less popular because it is more restrictive.

Schultz’s presentation on the ordinances did not include information about the price of potential fines.

Council member Steve Porter said he understood the effort but had concerns about people using navigation systems.

“The last thing we want to do is to try to give people tickets when they’re trying to get to our destinations,” Porter said.

    Council member Bridget Yeung said the city must keep residents safe and said the issue needed to be explored.

   “Most of the time when I come across a driver who’s not driving properly, they’re either talking on their phone or texting on their cellphone, so I think it’s very needed,” she said.

    Schultz said the police department plans to seek public comment through an online town hall as well as homeowners association meetings and social media. In addition, police would like to make an educational video.

    “I don’t think people can hear this enough and how dangerous this actually is,” he said at the May 24 meeting.