Police Watching Closely For Texters Behind Wheel

Friday, December 9, 2011 at 6:29 AM

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Police around Indiana are starting to make more of an effort to catch people who are texting while driving.

Earlier this year, the state became the 35th in the nation to ban sending texts while behind the wheel, but Indiana State Police wrote just 25 tickets for doing so in the first two months the law was in effect starting in July.

Such texting laws are proving to have little positive effect. A new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed texting while driving jumped 50 percent last year. The report stated 20 percent of Americans admit to texting while driving.

While banning texting, Indiana’s law does not make it illegal for someone to be on the Internet on their phone while behind the wheel.

Government figures indicate 3,092 people were killed in car accidents nationwide in 2010 where distracted driving was the main cause.

Overall a thousand fewer people died on America's highways last year, compared to 2009, even though total miles driven were up more than 1.5 percent.

LINKS:

Texting Law Goes Into Effect July 1