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New Jersey Steps Up Cell Phone Law Enforcement

Police departments crack down on talking while driving

March 3, 2009

• Federal Agencies Team Up To Combat Distracted Driving • Congress Takes On Distracted Driving Prevention • Obama Administration To Combat Distracted Driving • Survey: U.S. Drivers Say Texting While Driving Should be Banned • New Insight into Cell Phone Use and Driving Distraction • Phonegate: Feds Withheld Data on Cell Phone Dangers • Using A Cellphone? Make Sure to Stand Still • New Jersey Steps Up Cell Phone Law Enforcement • Talking While Walking May Put Kids At Risk • Car Key Jams Teen Drivers' Cell Phones • Feds Withhold Cell Phone Safety Data, Suit Charges • Cell Phone Conversations Distract Drivers, Study Finds • Texting Behind The Wheel Like Driving Drunk Or High • California Motorists Cope With New Hands-Free Law • More Teens Using Cell Phones While Driving • Drivers Impaired Just by Listening to Cell Phone • Driving While Phoning Gums Up Traffic, Study Finds • Study: Drivers Using Cell Phones As Bad As Drunks • Survey: Outlaw Cell Phone Use While Driving • Cell Phone No. 1 Driver Distraction • More Drivers Talking While Driving • Listening, Talking, Driving Don't Mix • Poll Finds Motorists Irked At Other Drivers • Crash Risk Four Times Higher When Driver is On the Phone • Cell-Phoning Drivers Get Failing Grade from Johns Hopkins • Study: Eight Percent of Drivers Are On the Phone • Feds Say Hands-Free Cell Phone Ineffective • Hands-Free Phones Safer, Study Finds • Make a Call, Get a Ticket --- Cell Phone Hazards • Study Finds Little Short-Term Cell Phone Health Risk • Cell Phones Linked to Bee Decline • Mayo Clinic Finds Cell Phones Safe in Hospitals • Origin of California Cell Phone Fire Disputed • Cell Phone Ignites, California Man Severely Burned • Study: Cell Phone Users Have Lower Sperm Counts • Study: Drivers Using Cell Phones As Bad As Drunks • Doctors Warn Against Cell Phone Use In Storms • Cell Phones Cleared in Gas Fire • Sleep With Your Cell Phone? Don't Forget the Dog • Feds Warn of Cell Phone Battery Hazards • Risk of Cell Phone Explosions Growing • Cell Phone Catches Fire • Battery Recall • Traffic Tickets • Gasoline Fires • Radiation Fears --- • Consumer Complaints

For the last year New Jersey has had a law on the books against using a cell phone while driving, but that hasn't stopped motorists from talking or texting behind the wheel. So for the next two weeks, police will crack down on the practice.

Eighteen local police departments will receive grants of $4,000 each for identifying and stopping motorists who they observe texting or talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving. Running through March 15, the two-week program will aim to further increase compliance with New Jersey's primary cell phone law, which has been in effect since March 1, 2008.

According to Division of Highway Traffic Safety Director Pam Fischer, the initiative will send a strong message to motorists that this behavior is not only illegal, but dangerous.

"We know that in 2007, driver inattention was a contributing factor in 22,641 traffic crashes. Of these crashes, 1,866 crashes involved hand-held phones and 1,421 involved talking hands-free," Fischer said. "A driver's attention should be focused solely on driving, period. Any phone conversation, whether it's hand-held or hands-free, is distracting and can instantly take a driver's mind and eyes off the road, creating a potentially deadly situation."

Under the new effort, police officers will be positioned both on the street and in police vehicles at various intersections in their municipality, where they can observe drivers who may be violating the cell phone law. If a violation is observed, the vehicle will be pulled over and the driver issued a citation. Motorists face a $100 fine for violating the law.

Fischer added that according to a Fairleigh Dickenson University PublicMinds Poll of New Jersey motorists, 59 percent say they never use a hand-held cell phone while driving, yet 79 percent say that they see others violating the law.

"The public perception is that this law is not being enforced, and that's simply not true," Fischer stated. "Between March 1, 2008 and January, 2009 — the first 11 months the primary cell phone law has been in effect — more than 108,000 tickets were issued to cell phone violators. Clearly, the law is being enforced, and this new effort will further the good work police departments throughout New Jersey are already doing to stop cell phone violators."

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