EDITORIAL: Cell phone enforcement should be constant

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May 3, 2010

---NIAGARA--- Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Mon May 03, 2010, 11:12 PM EDT

NIAGARA FALLS — 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 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 phone 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 Niagara County had another instance where a Starpoint grad was killed in Rochester as a result of a one-vehicle crash. The driver was texting.

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 during driving. It needs to end.

Police won’t be able to catch every instance, and ultimately it’s up to the drivers to put the cell down and focus on the road, but equal enforcement of distracted driving all year long would certainly help things along.

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