The New Orleans City Council today will consider repealing the city law requiring drivers in Orleans Parish to maintain reasonable vigilance at all times while driving.

Councilwoman Susan Guidry, who introduced the ordinance, says the request for repeal came from traffic court officials who see the repercussions of the law mainly on people with commercial drivers licenses.

Guidry says when a person is convicted or pleads guilty to failure to maintain reasonable vigilance while driving, it's required to be reported to the state. But the state doesn't have a comparable law, so it classifies the violaton as careless operation of a vehicle, a more serious offense.

Guidry says the more serious offense shows up for insurance purposes, and insurers often don't want to insure drivers who have that offense on their driving records. Consequently, commercial drivers often have trouble getting vehicle insurance.

"We of course have passed this by Chief Serpas and the mayor's office, and they've looked at it and agree or have no opposition," Guidry said.

Meanwhile, a proposed exception to the law prohibiting people from throwing beads at Carnival floats - allowing people to throw at floats designed to collect beads for recycling - has been pulled from the agenda.

Arc of Greater New Orleans requested the exception, but Guidry says the proposal needs further review and is not yet ready for consideration.