OUR VIEW: Police should enforce cell phone driving laws all year

Editorials

May 4, 2010

Anonymous The Tonawanda News The Tonawanda News Tue May 04, 2010, 12:09 AM EDT

— — Much like speeding, seat belt usage and even parking violations, cell phone use while driving needs to be an everyday enforcement, instead of just a blitz one or two weeks a year.

Starting today, state police will be on the lookout for cell phone usage while operating a vehicle. Such use is in violation of a law that’s been on the books for 10 years, but not enforced nearly often enough.

While we sit here and ask that police take the law more seriously and enforce it more, we all know that most, if not all of us, are guilty of using our cell phones while driving. Whether it’s texting, answering a call or checking e-mail, we’ve all used our handheld device in some manner while operating a vehicle.

Still, we’re pleading with all law enforcement agencies to enforce this law more frequently.

We’ve had to report on far too many instances of accidents, injuries and unfortunately, deaths, that were a result of distracted drivers who were using their cell phone while driving. Just a few weeks ago eastern Niagara County had another instance where a Starpoint graduate was killed near Rochester as a result of a one-vehicle crash. Investigators believe the college student was texting when her vehicle went off the road.

Over the last few years, as cell phone use among teens has gone up and texting has become more popular, not a week goes by that you don’t hear about an accident somewhere that was the result of cell phone use while driving. It needs to end.

The police won’t be able to catch every instance, and ultimately it’s up to drivers to put the cell down and focus on the road, but equal enforcement of distracted driving all year long would certainly be a welcome change.

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