Texting While Driving? There’s a Ticket for That
You might want to think twice before sending a text while you’re behind the wheel this week. Get caught texting while driving, and you’re likely to come home with your cell phone in one hand and a hefty ticket in the other.
Through October 11, Massachusetts State Police will increase the number of officers in marked and unmarked vehicles on the road, all looking for texting drivers to ticket, Trooper Matthew Guarino told Boston.com.
The state’s Safe Driving Law bans sending, typing, or reading text messages while driving. Fines range from $100 for the first offense to $500 for additional violations.
The crackdown is part of a two-year pilot program called “Text With One Hand, Ticket In The Other,’’ and is funded by a $275,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The grant follows nationwide efforts by the U.S. Department of Transportation to enforce distracted driving bans that exist in 44 states.
Mike Geraci of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told The Boston Globe that more than 3,000 people died in crashes caused by distracted driving in 2012, and the number of people becoming distracted by their phones on the roads is increasing.
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