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Tickets For TWD Continue To Increase In NY

This is a picture of a person holding a cell phone while driving a vehicle
wikipedia.org

The number of drivers issued a ticket for talking on a hand-held cellphone is dropping in New York state — but  more people than ever are being caught texting while behind the wheel.

Drivers received 132,000 tickets in 2015 for TALKING on a hand-held cellphone, down from nearly 250,000 tickets in 2011. Meantime, tickets for texting while driving have shot up from 9,000 in 2011 to nearly 85,000 last year as smartphones became more common.

State police through Wednesday are conducting stepped-up enforcement of the ban on texting while driving starting today and lasting through Wednesday.

First-time offenders can face fines of up to $200.

© 2016 AP

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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