Drivers who use their cars as mobile-phone booths can face disastrous consequences, and a new ordinance in a Milwaukee suburb gives them another incentive to hang up.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Glendale passed an ordinance stating that drivers could be fined for talking on their cell phones if they had an accident or were pulled over for another reason. Officers will not pull drivers over solely for talking on their phones.

The law is definitely a step in the right direction. Regulating cell phone use is a good idea, especially for younger drivers. But ultimately, such regulation needs to happen at the state level.

The evidence on cell phones’ impact on driving isn’t conclusive. The Journal Sentinel cited a study by the Wisconsin State Patrol finding that only 2 percent of drivers in crashes said they had been on the phone at the time. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 65 to 80 percent of crashes happened within three seconds of some kind of distraction and that dialing a phone tripled a driver’s risk of getting into an accident. It also found that drivers between 18 and 20 were four times more likely to crash due to inattentive driving.

There are positive aspects to Glendale’s ordinance. The city faces heavy commuter traffic, and less cell phone use would reduce traffic-stopping fender-benders.

While fining phone users only when pulled over for other reasons seems inconsistent, it would be difficult to enforce an outright ban.

But it seems inconsistent and confusing to leave cell phone regulation to cities. Drivers would have a hard time knowing where laws were enforced and where they weren’t. A better policy would have statewide regulation.

While a total ban would probably not be feasible, having some kind of plan throughout Wisconsin to limit cell phone use while driving makes sense. Giving drivers some motivation to keep their focus where it should be will make the roads much safer.