California drivers appear to have gotten the hands-free message.
The Highway Patrol issued a mere 991 tickets – little more than 150 a day – statewide through Tuesday for violating the hands-free cell phone law that went into effect one week ago. In the nine Bay Area counties only 107 drivers were tagged since July 1.
At that rate, about 51,000 tickets would be issued annually. By comparison, the CHP gives out nearly 1.2 million speeding and 205,000 seat belt violations a year.
“The numbers are kind of low,” said CHP spokesman Hugo Mendoza, “but I think because the law is so new and the media is really focusing on it, it’s making people comply.”
The number of tickets written by city police departments isn’t known yet, but officers around the Bay Area say their agencies, like the CHP, haven’t been dealing out many citations. A ticket for violating the hands-free law can cost around $100 for a first offense.
Mountain View police issued about two dozen tickets in Week One. San Mateo, 21. Campbell, 14.
Union City hasn’t tracked the number of tickets its officers have issued – but is certain there aren’t many.
“One officer said he specifically tried to find the violation and could not,” said Lt. Kelly Musgrove.
Both the CHP and local police say they have not targeted cell phone abuse, or made any sort of special enforcement effort. Instead, they are simply writing tickets when they see a violation, especially when the driver’s behavior poses risks to others.
“Officers are just writing what they find,” said Campbell Sgt. Charley Adams. “Obviously, officers that view this as a hazardous violation will be more vigilant at enforcing it.”
Added Mountain View officer Bryan Albarillo:
“Compliance is mixed and those that have been stopped have heard of the law but simply forgot. If we actually targeted the violation, I believe there would be many more citations issued.”
Still, many motorists and traffic cops say there has been a clear decrease in the number of drivers holding phones to their ears.
Some say they’ve witnessed motorists in mall parking lots, making a cell phone call. Only when the conversation is over do those drivers start their car and go.
“I seldom saw that before,” said Anita Ramirez of San Jose. “I used to constantly see someone get in their car, then get on the phone as they drove off.”
Then there’s peer pressure. Bob Whitehair of San Mateo saw a co-worker using his cell phone on July 1 and said “quite a few other drivers honked at him and pointed to his phone.”
Some drivers are going to great lengths to use their phones and yet comply with the new rules. Nina Wong-Dobkin of Sunnyvale spotted a driver talking on a headphone while holding her phone in her right hand about 8-10 inches away from her face.
“I wonder if she would get a ticket?” Wong-Dobkin asked.
Yes. Hold a cell phone in your hand, even several inches away from the ear, and you’re not talking hands-free.
Despite all the attention, some motorists continue to ignore the law.
On Monday, John Sugrue, a teacher in Santa Clara, said he nearly got nailed by a woman with her cell phone plastered to her ear coming around the corner in a parking lot.
“Her eyes were everywhere but the direction she was heading,” he said.
Drivers 18 and over must use a hands-free device or a speakerphone to talk in the car. But they are allowed to send text messages, though doing so may be outlawed Jan. 1.
However, drivers under the age of 18 cannot use any electronic equipment when behind the wheel. The CHP handed out a mere 10 tickets to teens violating that law over the last week.
Police say nearly two years of warnings about the new laws plus messages on electronic freeway signs and a blitz of media coverage has helped keep the number of cell phone scofflaws low.
“Perhaps later, when attention shifts to something else, people will fall back to their old habits,” the CHP’s Mendoza said. “I hope not.”
Contact Gary Richards at mrroadshow@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5335.
