WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Westchester County Department of Communications.  March 31, 2004: If you were driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone last week, you may have been among the  1,331 people ticketed by  police. If you were guilty of this infraction and weren’t caught this time, look out.

 County Executive Andy Spano said that the combined effort of the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and 31 local police departments got the word out the hard way to drivers: It’s against the law to talk on a hand-held cell phone while you drive.

“This was about the safety of the driving public, including the people who flaunt the state cell phone law,” said Spano. “During one week, county and local police issued a remarkable 1,331  summonses, compared to 8,000 in all of 2003. We hope those people who were ticketed – as well as those who escaped this time – will now change their behavior. All it takes is a split-second distraction for there to be an accident.”

For one week, beginning Monday, March 19, the various police departments teamed up to focus attention on the issue of driver distraction caused by using a hand-held cell phone while driving.

COMING WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT.

Spano said the initiative was so successful that it will be done again – but the next time there will be no advance notice to the public.“The public should remember that if they are going to use a cell phone while they drive it must be a hands-free device. Using a hand-held phone is illegal next week and the weeks thereafter, even if we don’t have a ‘sting’ going on at a given moment.”

            In April 2001, Westchester County became one of the first municipalities in the country to enact a law to regulate cell phone use while driving. This law was superceded later that year by a state-wide ban, which provides for fines of up to $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second offense and $500 for subsequent offenses.

According to the county’s department of Public Safety, there were 226 cell phone summonses written in 2001; 5,856 in 2002;  and 8,384 in 2003.

County Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Belfiore said, “I am appreciative of the attention given to this important matter by the county police departments. Their outstanding enforcement efforts helped educate the public and enhanced safety on the roads we patrol.”

Chief Robert D’Angelo of North Castle, president of the Westchester Chiefs of Police Association, said, “I am proud of the contribution in this effort of my own department – and all the departments that participated.”

County Legislator Louis Mosiello, the author of the original Westchester cell phone and driving law,  said, “The reason we passed our law – and that the state then passed a state-wide ban – was to save lives. But too many people don’t take this law seriously enough.”  Mosiello has asked the state to consider increasing the penalty for violations so that offenders face points on their driver’s license.   

The participating police departments were:

• Westchester County
• Ardsley PD
• Bedford PD
• Briarcliff Manor PD
• Bronxville PD
• Dobbs Ferry PD
• Elmsford PD
• Greenburgh PD
• Hastings PD
• Irvington PD
• Larchmont
• Mamaroneck Town PD
• Mamaroneck Village PD
• Mount Pleasant PD
• Mount Vernon PD
• New Rochelle PD
• New Castle  PD
• North Castle PD
• Ossining Town PD
• Ossining Village PD
• Pelham PD
• Port Chester PD
• Rye Brook PD
• Rye City PD
• Scarsdale PD
• Sleepy Hollow PD
• Tarrytown PD
• Tuckahoe PD
• White Plains PD
• Yonkers PD