Texting While Driving: Fines Coming This Month

Could you quit cold turkey? Texting or talking on a cell phone while driving, that is. 

The Milpitas Police Department and California Highway Patrol and hundreds of other law enforcement agencies will participate in the state's first Distracted Driving Awareness Month. But it's not just an awareness campaign. Officers will begin issuing citations starting Monday on zero-tolerance days for cell phone use and texting.

A ticket for violating either the "hands-free" law or no-texting law costs a minimum of $159, and afterward, tickets are $279.

“Cell phone use and texting while driving are such serious concerns that we are having officers on the road demonstrate zero tolerance when it comes to distracted driving," said Milpitas police Chief Dennis Graham. "Is that text message or cellphone call really worth $159?”

Studies show that texting while driving can delay a driver’s reaction time just as severely as having a blood-alcohol content of a legally drunk driver, according to the state Office of Transportation Safety.

“I consider this to be as dangerous as drunk driving,” Graham said.

The state law on texting while driving went into effect at the beginning of 2009. According to Sgt. Kevin Moscuzza, it prohibits the use of any wireless electronic device that allows the user to read, write or send text messages, instant messaging and electronic mail. 

That includes texting while stopped at a red light, because technically, the driver is still in control of the vehicle on a public roadway, Moscuzza wrote in an email.

About 80 percent of vehicle collisions involve the driver being distracted, and cell phone use is No. 1, according to the state Office of Transportation Safety.

“We recognize that convincing drivers to refrain from using cell phones or texting while driving isn’t easy,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Office of Traffic Safety director.

“It’s very difficult to resist the urge to check an incoming text or answer a cell phone call," he said. "That’s why we are stepping up enforcement and public awareness efforts."

Here are tips from the Office of Transportation Safety:

• Turn your phone off or put it out of reach before starting the car.

• Alert callers that you are unable to take calls when driving by changing your voicemail message.

• Make it a point not to call or text anyone who may be driving, such as during the commute to and from work or school, especially parents calling teen drivers.

• If you do need to make an important call or respond to a text message, pull over to a safe place to do so.

• If going cold turkey is too much of a stretch, and you just can’t turn your phone off, consider using one of the available mobile phone apps that holds calls and incoming texts.

For more information, check out the Distracted Driving Fact Sheet and FAQs.