Police enforcing cell phone ban

[Cranbury Press]

Police enforcing cell phone ban
Thursday, July 10, 2008 1:35 PM EDT
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer



Local police departments have been busy since March, when state legislators passed a law banning the use the cell phones while driving without a hands-free device.

All over the state police are hitting violators where it hurts — in the wallet — by handing out $100 tickets to violators, a fee that doesn’t include court costs.

The alternative to getting hammered with a ticket is to purchase a hands-free cell phone device that allows drivers to legally steer and chat, said Cranbury Police Chief Ed Kahler.

In May alone, when Cranbury first began to track the number of tickets it was issuing, the department reported 28 summonses for illegal cell phone usage.

”We were doing the click-it-or-ticket seat belt check and a lot of cell phone summonses resulted from that,” Chief Kahler said.
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A lot of times drivers might be stopped at a traffic light on the opposite side of the street or chatting away at a school crossing and don’t think they’ll get ticketed, he said, but that’s simply not the case.

”Keep both hands on the steering wheel,” Chief Kahler said as a point of advice. “It’s not worth getting into a traffic accident or hurting anyone else.”

But just because it’s illegal to drive and talk without a hands -free device doesn’t mean that you should leave home without your cell phone, Chief Kahler said.

”It’s wise to have a cell phone in the car,” he said.

There are a number of instances where a cell phone could save someone’s life and where exemptions to using a cell phone come into play, Capt. Kahler said.

Some of these exemptions include a vehicle’s operator having a reason to fear for their life or safety, to report a fire, traffic accident, reckless driving or a serious road hazard.

Outside of any exemption, drivers should look into a hands-free device, which Capt. Kahler said cell phone companies are offering at promotional and discounted prices and can cost under $20.

In Jamesburg, police haven’t seen a sharp increase in ticketing over the past few months but the borough had a similar municipal ordinance banning cell phone usage that predates the state’s law by nearly five years.

Although the borough has long enforced the ban, officers have issued only about half a dozen tickets in June, an average number for Jamesburg, Chief Martin Horvath said.

”I think for the state of New Jersey, as congested as it is, (a cell phone) is one less distraction,” Chief Horvath said.

Monroe Police Department has issued 43 summonses since the law first went into effect four months ago.

Monroe officials said officers aren’t out on the prowl for cell phone violators but if they happen to come upon one it’s likely a ticket will be issued.

”The tickets were given out as a result of vehicle stops conducted by officers on routine patrol who observed drivers violating the law, rather than a special detail where an officer’s sole purpose is to look for violators of that statute.”

http://www.packetonline.com/articles/2008/07/11/cranbury_press/news/doc4876467e18413660702617.txt