75 Driver-Texting Tickets Issued in Delaware County
The county ranked No. 4 in citations in the first year of a Pennsylvania law.
The first year of Pennsylvania's ban on texting while driving resulted in 1,302 tickets being given statewide, including 75 in Delaware County, according to an analysis by AAA Mid-Atlantic.
Delaware County police issued the fourth-most tickets among Pennsylvania counties. Philadelphia (243) and Montgomery (111) were Nos. 1 and 2.
Chester County police issued 49, ranking No. 7.
The law took effect March 8, 2012. It made texting while driving a primary offense, which means drivers can be pulled over for it, and it carries a $50 fine.
When comparing the ratio of total population to tickets issued, using the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, Delaware County's citation rate exceeded the state average by about 30 percent.
Here's how ticket totals corresponded to populations elsewhere:
| Place | Population | Driver-texting tickets | Tickets per 100,000 pop. |
| Chester County | 503,897 | 49 | 9.7 |
| Delaware County | 559,494 | 75 | 13.4 |
| Montgomery County | 804,210 | 111 | 13.8 |
| Philadelphia | 1,536,471 | 243 | 15.8 |
| Pennsylvania | 12,743,948 | 1,302 | 10.2 |
How often do you text while driving? Are you worried about getting ticketed? Please tell us in the comments section below.
Joe Mama
10:30 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Wow! That means that in some weeks, they gave TWO tickets. That'll really slow down distracted driving! Well done!
andrew k
1:50 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
My brother is a local LEO in PA and says that issuing texting while driving tickets is extremely difficult. Drivers are still permitted to dial numbers and it is often difficult to determine whether someone is dialing a number or actually texting. Furthermore, the law is specific to sending messages and doesn't cover things like browsing facebook, etc. on a phone.
Berk Hath
10:50 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
1,302... is that all? You can stand at the intersection of Lancaster And Bryn Mawr Avenues during morning rush hour and spot that many drivers on their cells thumbing their noses at the police. It's merely "Three Monkeys" enforcement... or lack of same. And don't get me started on healthy drivers parking in handicap spots. Probably the same people.
sheila norton
9:30 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
AMEN!
Charlie D.
8:08 am on Thursday, March 14, 2013
I could give 75 texting tickets a year in Delaware County, easily! All of us notice driver(s) texting while driving every trip we make, either holding up traffic because of texting or swerving into the wrong lane because of texting. Must be hard for the Police to prove the driver was texting or emailing, which I understand....but pulling someone over should shock their system for a few days :)
Melissa Brown
10:45 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
You morons. It isn't like that is ALL the police have to do. You act as though this is their primary responsibility with your immature comments above. If given the choice between pulling over a drunk driver, or perhaps responding to a robbery in progress, OR stopping to give someone a ticket for texting...which would YOU whiners prefer law enforcement to spend their time on? Don't get me wrong. I think they could, and no doubt will start to drive those numbers up, but SMH, get a grip.