AUSTIN (KXAN) — Drivers stuck in Austin’s famously awful traffic would have to resort to hands-free technology under proposed recommendations for strengthening the city’s distracted driving ordinance.

The city council ordered the creation of the Distracted Driving Study Group in February and tasked it with researching ways to strengthen the existing distracted driving ordinance. Currently, driving while dialing is permitted but drivers in Austin are prohibited from texting while driving, scrolling, emailing and otherwise putting their smart phones to work.

In a memo to the mayor and council members dated Monday, Deputy City Manager Michael McDonald outlined the group’s recommendations:

“The new ordinance should make it illegal to “use” a portable electronic device… while operating a motor vehicle or bicycle in the active travel lane. The ban should apply to vehicles in motion as well as those stopped a traffic control devices.”

The memo specifies that using your phone to contact 911 in the event of an emergency will still be legal. You’ll still be allowed to use a GPS mounted on your car to order you about town. Other exemptions include first responders, commercial vehicles using two-way radios and someone who has pulled on to the shoulder.

The ball is in the city council’s court now, who will likely take additional input from key stakeholders before putting it on the agenda for a future city council meeting. Ordinances are subject to public hearings where members of the public are allowed to speak in favor or against the ordinance before it is voted on by the council.