For the past half a year, texting behind the wheel of an automobile has been illegal in the state of Pennsylvania, just as it is here in California. And thus far, police have had some success cracking down on the offense despite certain difficulties that exist when it comes to enforcing the law.
AAA Mid-Atlantic has posted data regarding texting while driving citations issued in various areas throughout Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia metro area, likely because it’s the most populous locale in the state, has seen 355 tickets handed out to people caught texting behind the wheel. The county of Philadelphia saw 156 citations, while on the other side of the top ten county list, Lackawanna County ranked tenth with 15 citations issued. The rest of the top ten saw ticket numbers hovering somewhere in between those two figures.
A person who gets caught engaging in the offense will be slapped with a $50 fine. AAA, who released the findings, hopes bringing awareness to the issue will get similar bans imposed all across the country in those states that don’t already have them. They would like to see educational efforts make it so that high numbers of citations don’t occur because people simply aren’t indulging in the dangerous texting habit.
Do your part here in California and avoid texting behind the wheel.