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New Jersey Serious About Ticketing Handheld Talking, Texting

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21 9,007 views March 8, 2010

Speeding up, slowing down and weaving back and forth are all caused by texting

Speeding up, slowing down and weaving back and forth are all caused by texting

Enlarge Photo
When New Jersey tells you not to use a handheld cellphone to talk or text while driving, they mean it.

In the 23 months since New Jersey's ban of talking or texting on handheld cellphones, police have written 224,725 citations, according to the NJ Star-Ledger—adding up to about four percent of the state's total moving violations, not counting drunk driving, during that period, and by far the most any state has written so far.

The tickets include a $100 fine, even for a first offense; and yes, it will go on your record. New Jersey is also among many states that now allow data to be collected about cellphone use or distraction on police accident reports.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind survey, co-sponsored by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, last July found that hand-held voice use was down versus two years before, however a higher percentage of nearly all age groups are sending more handheld texts while driving than before.

Just as speeding is tied to other hazardous behaviors, it's tied to unsafe cellphone use: According to the PublicMind poll, drivers who speed regularly are two and a half times more likely than other drivers to have sent a text message while driving—more likely too, to have made "rude gestures at other motorists."

The study also found that using a hands-free phone was just as risky as holding a cellphone while driving.

New Jersey's handheld cellphone use ban covers all drivers, for talking or texting, and it's a primary enforcement offense—meaning that an officer can pull the driver over and issue a citation for that alone. In neighboring New York, talking on a handheld is primary but texting is secondary, meaning that citations will only be issued in combination with another citation.

Although the telecommunications industry has blocked a number of bans through lobbying efforts in the past, some of them are now getting on board in advising drivers not to talk or text at all when behind the wheel. Wireless provider AT&T has just launched a campaign that declares, "txtng & driving … it can wait"

Eating or drinking while driving is as dangerous as using a cellphone

Eating or drinking while driving is as dangerous as using a cellphone

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Furthermore, a recent report from the IIHS hinted that there are other factors in play—like our attitudes about distraction. Looking solely at the frequency of crashes before and after the enactment of new laws restricting handheld cellphone use in several states, the researchers found no recognizable reduction in accidents. This hints, experts say, that people might actually be communicating more behind the wheel—or in more hazardous situations—with "safer" hands-free options, or having hands free allows them to do other distracting tasks, like eating or drinking.

[Star-Ledger]





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Comments (21)

  1. By bee Posted: 3/8/2010 2:06pm PST

    Thats a lot of tickets at $100 a pop. Maybe they can ticket themselves out of debt.
     
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  2. By car dee Posted: 3/8/2010 2:41pm PST

    Safety first. But this is little tooo... much.
     
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  3. By isalive! Posted: 3/8/2010 2:50pm PST

    Yay for Jersey! Maybe those Shore idiots will all be locked up and unavailable for appearances due to traffic warrants.
     
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  4. By Badda Bing Posted: 3/8/2010 2:50pm PST

    How are those Jersey Shore idiots supposed to keep up with tanning and gym time if they don't text and drive? Maybe they're like bats...and got radar.
     
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  5. By Damien Thomas Posted: 3/8/2010 2:58pm PST

    About god damn time IMO. I'm sure everyone reading this has seen at least a couple of drivers on the cell phone doing retarded stuff on the roads.
     
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  6. By MADDriver Posted: 3/8/2010 3:00pm PST

    I agree with car dee. Driving while using a phone or texting have been shown to be *just as safe* as driving drunk. I think it's high time we lifted the ban on driving while intoxicated. Enough is enough! :p
     
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  7. By Action Warden Posted: 3/8/2010 3:08pm PST

    I'm with Damien: ABOUT GODDAMN TIME. I have been passed more times than I can count by little blond girls in Hondas doing 85 mph in one and half lanes as they stare intently at the phone they're holding on the steering wheel rather than looking at the, ummmm, like, ROAD.
    Ticket them til they whimper, and take away their damn licenses. NO MERCY.
     
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  8. By Eric Berlin Posted: 3/8/2010 3:40pm PST

    I've been known to check e-mail a time or two at a stoplight, but yeah, it's a good thing to focus on the driving while doing the driving...
    On another note: New Jersey must be raking in cash off those citations!
     
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  9. By automaan Posted: 3/8/2010 8:08pm PST

    How is the effecting accidents
     
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  10. By Joe b Posted: 3/9/2010 3:44am PST

    Texting while driving is so wrong, but I wish someone will come up with a solution for hands-free texting.
     
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  11. By dave Posted: 3/9/2010 4:01am PST

    I've given a lot of thought to solving the hands-free texting issue.
    DON'T DO IT!
     
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  12. By Knowitall Posted: 3/9/2010 8:34am PST

    Fining is the best way to deal with traffic enforcement. Skip the point system because people don't think ahead to future premium increases. Hit em' with a nice fine today and they'll remember it.
     
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  13. By PDA Lookout Fan Posted: 3/9/2010 11:12am PST

    My daughter used to text while driving, but we wouldn’t always remember to go check our cell phone reports and weren’t ever 100% sure if she was stopped or moving while texting – it was a constant battle. We signed up with PDA Lookout and could tell exactly where she was, how fast she was going using their GPS app and could be more consistent when watching for her to be texting and driving.
     
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  14. By ca_expat Posted: 3/9/2010 12:57pm PST

    I swear. Bennys ruin everything good about Jersey.
     
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  15. By Catherine Posted: 3/9/2010 2:55pm PST

    It's not surprising NJ cops love pulling people over and shaking them down. Just another excuse to shake down teenagers for tiny amounts of weed.
     
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  16. By jarmik Posted: 3/9/2010 3:47pm PST

    Hey, so if ticketing hasn't been shown to reduce accidents, what does this achieve. Ohhhhh. More revenue!
     
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  17. By  Bruno Posted: 3/10/2010 3:16am PST

    It's distracting and dangerous. People on phones drive too slow and swerve, as well as having lower reaction times. It's not a victimless crime, it causes road hazards.
     
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  18. By  Philip Cohen Posted: 3/10/2010 3:37pm PST

    Cell phone use is up 900% since 1994, but fatalities per mile driven are down 18%, and non-injury accidents are down 24%. I see the risk of distraction, but don't see any aggregate effect of this major change in behavior: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-n-cohen/mobiles-phones-and-traffi_b_493316.html
     
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  19. By  Gunni Posted: 3/26/2010 10:08pm PDT

    I don't know how bad it is in Jersey, so maybe they need to establish this law, but I think it is a bit ridiculous. I'm from Hawaii, and we just instituted the law a few months ago; I'm very against it. As the digger taayb pointed out, you can do so many other things that use your hands or otherwise distract you, but for some reason cell phones are the ones that get singled out. A lot of people eat, read (a map or whatever), look at and use their GPS (same distraction as texting), fiddle with their radio, and the like; all those are equally distracting and use up your hands, but you can't hold your cellphone to talk? Listening to talk radio takes away your road concentration as much as talking on the phone, since you're focusing on the conversation. A lot of people drive with one hand naturally anyway, while listening to music or doing other mental distractions. Coming from pure gut feeling, I think the people that crash while using their cellphone were likely going to crash doing something else, because, as I'm sure everyone who drives a car on digg can tell you, it's really not that hard to use your phone and drive. Personally, I text all the time when I drive, and have been for seven years; never even got close to crashing — you just have to focus and do it at the right times.
     
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  20. By Observer Posted: 5/8/2010 10:02am PDT

    Again, NJ is a leader in separating citizens from their money. I agree with secondary enforcement, but as cited above, there is no notable risk difference between hand held and hands-free cell phone use. Using a cell phone is probably no more risky than talking to passengers while driving. On a recent 10 mile drive I saw failure to use turn signals, failure to stay in lane, swinging into the left lane to make a right hand turn, speeding, and tailgating - all without a cell phone being used. Get real!
     
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  21. By David Posted: 11/24/2010 3:31pm PST

    I was ticked today for "looking down" I was getting a pack of gum. The officer told me he saw me look down, which is the reason for the "Cell Phone ticket". Thank you Mantua Township Badge Number 1530. see you in court....
     
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