Hold the phone. Chatty drivers in Maryland are piling up citations under a strict new cellphone law.
On Oct. 1, a Maryland law made driving while on a handheld phone a primary offense. Prior to the crackdown, an officer had to observe another violation to pull over a driver.
Now, if an officer sees a motorist on the phone while driving, the driver can be pulled over and fined — no other offense necessary.
In the first two weeks, 1,461 drivers were cited for using a handheld phone, according to Maryland District Court traffic records obtained by WTOP.
Fines start at $75 for the first offense. For the second offense, $125. And for the third and subsequent, $175.
The first day the law went into effect, Maryland State Police pulled over more than 200 drivers. More than half of those resulted in a ticket.
Other driving laws that went into effect Oct. 1 in Maryland include a seat belt law that makes it a primary offense for both drivers and front seat passengers to ride unbuckled.
Additionally, drivers who go through a toll booth at a bridge or the Intercounty Connector could face problems with their car registration if they fail to pay. Initially, a toll evader gets notified by mail and has $30 to pay. If they pay, the case is closed. If they miss the 30-day deadline, they face a $50 fine on top of the toll payment. If drivers ignore the fine, their registration will be flagged for non-renewal or suspended.
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4 Responses
They could make plenty of money in Boro Park using fines. Enough to reduce the national debt.
BoroPork–If they enforced parking/driving regulations in BP it would really take away the heimish environment and you guys would prob blame it on anti semitism.
#2, take a walk down 13th Ave on any given day and let us know if parking/traffic are being enforced. Something tells me you despise Boro Park and its people.
The number one reason for these laws in Maryland, is revenue. Baltimore City, when the current governor was mayor, set red light camera locations, that the light would turn red very quickly and well below the legal requirement. The result was lots of revenue and many more rear end collisions from people stopping short to avoid the red light. So much for safety!