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The cell phone driving ban passed by the City Council on Monday is now headed for the lawbooks after Mayor Martin Chavez signed the legislation.

Even though Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said he doesn't plan to pull out all the enforcement stops, proponents of the ban say they're still glad to have it.

"I definitely think it will be a deterrent," said Councilor Ken Sanchez, who with colleague Isaac Benton sponsored the bill that the mayor signed Wednesday night. At the same time, Sanchez was quick to add, "I think it really has to be the discretion of each officer."

(For the record, Sanchez made his comments from his cell phone, but was safely sitting in his office. For driving, he recently purchased a Bluetooth hands-free device.)

In approving the controversial bill, Chavez said he wanted to err on the side of safety.

"If it's effective, then it's wonderful," he said.

The decision followed two days of speculation on what the mayor would do with the bill, which passed the City Council on a 5-4 vote. Chavez had expressed doubts that hard data actually demonstrated a problem, and had wondered why law enforcement officers were exempted from the rule.

He solved the latter issue by exercising his administrative authority, ordering all city employees - that would include police and firefighters - to use headsets while driving.

As for hard data, he took other factors into account as well: "The anecdotal evidence is very strong," he said, that cell phone use can cause driver inattention and crashes.

Opponents had charged that the bill infringed on civil liberties and was inconsistent for not also going after other distractive behavior, such as eating, reading or talking to passengers in the car.

The issue sparked a large public reaction. "I've never gotten more e-mail on an issue, ever," Chavez said.

The e-mails trended in favor of the ban, he said. But people who phoned in their comments generally wanted a veto, he added.

Getting caught using a hand-held cell phone will soon result in a $100 fine for the first offense, and $200 fines for subsequent citations.

Schultz earlier told The Tribune that drivers would get a lengthy grace period, which he termed a "generous educational break-in," in which police would issue warnings.

Chavez said later that grace period would last 60 days.

The law is expected to take effect within the next two weeks.