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Percival adopts town-level distracted-driving offense, giving officers discretion to cite inattentive drivers
Summary
Council approved an ordinance creating a town infraction for 'failure to give full time and attention' while driving, describing it as an educational enforcement tool with a civil-style prepayable fine (up to $250) and a planned public-notice lead time before enforcement.
The Percival Town Council voted unanimously Oct. 8 to add a town-level traffic offense for drivers who "fail to give full time and attention" to driving, giving officers a discretionary tool short of state reckless-driving charges.
Police Chief Dufek (speaker identified in the packet as the presenting chief) told the council the proposed code section would let officers stop or cite drivers when an articulable inattentive action is observed — for example, a driver "with a dog in their face" — and that the citation would generally carry a maximum fine of $250 with no points. "We're trying to adopt a town code that allows our officers to charge drivers for failure to pay full time attention," the chief said in the briefing.
Council members pressed for clarity on the written ordinance language and enforcement criteria. A staff attorney confirmed the authorization and consistency with other town codes; the chief said the packet includes modeled ordinance language used by nearby localities and recommended a roughly three-month lead time to update court systems, issue a press release and post variable message boards before active enforcement.
Councilors described the measure as an education-first tool that could be used to correct dangerous behavior without the elevated penalty associated with state reckless-driving charges. The chief said officers would exercise discretion and that repeated offenses could still lead to enforcement action. The council voted to adopt the ordinance (recorded in the packet as ordinance 24‑10‑02) on a roll call, 7‑0.
Officials also discussed where fine revenue flows: most fines are remitted through courts and a small per‑citation portion comes back to localities (the chief noted about $5 per moving violation is returned to local infrastructure funds). The chief told council he will prepare public outreach materials describing behaviors the ordinance targets and clarifying that the list would not be exhaustive.
The ordinance now goes to implementation steps including court notification, e‑citation updates, and public communication as outlined by the police department.
