Last Thursday, the New York Police Department engaged in a 24-hour crackdown on drivers using handheld cellphones. And The NY Times CityRoom Blog reports that 7,529 people were ticketed:

For the third time this year, the police made an extra effort to issue summonses to drivers over a 24-hour period. The number of tickets – which are normally for $130 – written by police officers on Thursday was about 1,500 fewer than were written on the first crackdown day in May. However, it was about 100 more than were written on a similar day in August.

The number of cellphone tickets issued last Thursday is also considerably more than the average per day for 2008, which was 536.

As for texting while driving, Newsday reports that New York State’s ban on that practice goes into effect on Nov. 1.

(Source: NY Times)