It's only been a year, but 111 people in Montgomery County have already felt the burn.
On March 8, 2012, the new Pennsylvania law took effect – no longer could drivers in the Commonwealth text and drive.
In the year since, over 1,300 tickets have been issued to drivers in the state, according to the AAA Mid-Atlantic. Of those tickets, 40 percent were issued in the Greater Philadelphia area.
Where did Montgomery County stack up? Area residents netted their fair share of offenses. In the last 365 days, 111 tickets were issued to Montco drivers for texting while driving.
According to Philly.com, AAA spokespersons think the higher local average has most to due with volume.
"The high percent of citations issued in Philadelphia and its suburbs is likely due to the region’s large population and amount of traffic, AAA spokeswoman Jenny Robinson said," said the philly.com report.
"It’s hard to say if it’s related to something other than traffic volume," Robinson told philly.com.
According to the National Safety Council, the U.S. sees 1.6 million crashes due to cell phone use each year.
"[The NSC] estimates at least 28 percent of all traffic crashes – or at least 1.6 million crashes each year – involve drivers using cell phones and texting. NSC estimates that 1.4 million crashes each year involve drivers using cell phones and a minimum of 200,000 additional crashes each year involve drivers who are texting."
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) says that 57 people died in Pennsylvania alone, in traffic crashes attributed to distracted driving in 2012.
"In 2011, there were 59 such fatalities," said PennDOT data.
According to philly.com, police can stop a driver strictly for texting (without causing another driving offesnse).
"Pennsylvania’s law makes it a primary offense for motorists to send a text message while driving. That means a police officer can stop a driver solely for texting," said the philly.com article. "Those convicted face a $50 fine."
For the full report on the year-old law and resulting tickets for the state, read the story here.
This law, like other "common-sense", knee-jerk, feel good legislation. They only empower the police to enforce the law against those they deem fit to enforce it against. For every law passed, we lose a little of our freedom. This law is arbitrary and capricious and deserves a Supreme Court challenge.