Virginia state police have handed out more than 300 tickets for texting while driving since the day it became a primary offense on July 1, 2013, reports InsideNova.com.
A primary offense means that an officer has the right to make a traffic stop and ticket a driver if he sees only that the driver is texting while driving. Previously, texting and driving was a secondary offense, meaning that in order for an officer to ticket a driver for texting, the officer would need to witness a different offense to legally make the traffic stop.
Virginia state police issued a news release detailing that they had cited 328 drivers for texting while driving between July 1 and Sept. 28.
The law implicates drivers of vehicles that are in motion, while law-enforcement officers and first responders are exempt from the law.
The news release also noted that the numbers do not necessarily reflect the problem of texting while driving in Virginia, as some offenses are escalated to reckless driving and are not included in the texting while driving citation count.
Regardless, the citation news is encouraging as texting while driving is now more fatal than drunk driving. We will keep you updated as this story unfolds.
The Parrish Law Firm car accident injury lawyer works with northern Virginia residents who have been injured by another driver’s negligence. Contact us today for a free case consultation, or call us at 703-906-4229.
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