Aug 20, 2009 11:25 am US/Eastern
NYPD Crackdown: Hands-Free Or Pay The Fee!
For Second Time In 2009, NYPD Implements 24-Hour Restriction On Hand-Held Cell Phone While Driving
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The NYPD has a message for drivers: dialing while driving will cost you money.
It's the second police crackdown on driving while using hand-held cell phones in less than six months. The last time, on March 12, police officers pulled over close to 9,000 drivers within the 24-hour crackdown on hand-held cell phone use.
"Having one hand not on the wheel at any given time is dangerous," said NYPD officer Eric Chaffer. "Everybody does it but in this case, it's against the law."
And the facts are there to support Chaffer. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report found that in 2003 at least a quarter of all car crashes were related to distracted drivers, many using cell phones to lose focus while driving. The year before, more than 950 deaths and 240,000 accidents were related to cell-phone use.
We've all heard the statistics, but still lots of drivers had their cellphones to their ears during the last crackdown, and the cops weren't buying their excuses.
"I was on my way to a job site and I was kind of lost so I called my boss over at the job site and they caught me," said driver Mike Buanarobo. "They're just doing their job, like I'm trying to do mine, or I was trying to do mine."
But some drivers using hand-held cell phones are unrepentant.
"Had I known about the crackdown and had I seen my kid's school calling, I would have picked up the phone regardless of the crackdown."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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