Step Away From the Cell Phone, Sir

Police will be crack down on driving and dialing

Police across Connecticut want you to hang up or pay up. They are cracking down on drivers using cell phones without hands-free devices.

A state law already prohibits you from using one hand to steer and the other to gab. It’s been in effect since 2005 but,  many say, police don’t enforce it.

That’s about to change. Police will be looking for distracted drivers who gab as they steer.

"Whenever I start my car up, I try to put my cell phone down because, truthfully, it's really unsafe," Jawaad Husain, of West Hartford, said.
 
That's why police will be looking for drivers who are on the phone and not using hands-free devices.

"It's definitely a way to get your attention off the road, so I guess they should be cracking down on stuff like that," Gabe Ganndress, of West Hartford, said.
 
Last year, police issued 38,336 tickets for driving while talking on the cell phone statewide.

In both Hartford and New Haven, police issued 1,200 tickets. Police in Waterbury nabbed 400 drivers. But the most tickets were issued in Fairfield, where cops nabbed almost 1,500 drivers for gabbing without hands-free systems.

Drivers admit they do it, but they don't argue with this effort to stop it.

"Morally, it's the right thing to do, so I guess I'll say 'yes,' I should stop. Everyone should," Shantgho Kasiyan said.

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