The state of New York has given its troopers taller vehicles to help catch drivers, who are found texting while driving.
New York is one of the 41 states in the U.S., where texting while driving is banned. In 2014, the state of New York will also increase the penalty for motorists found using a cell phone to talk or text. Drivers can get a fine of three to five points along with a ticket of $200.
To make things worse for texting drivers, the state has now deployed 32 tall unmarked SUV's or Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement (CITE) vehicle to its troopers who can track down drivers more efficiently. Even though the police SUVs will be similar in height when compared to normal SUVs, the taller vehicle will enable troopers to spy on drivers who use their cell phone in their laps for texting, and cite them.
New York State's current action is one of the most aggressive in the country to find and penalize motorists for using cell phones when driving.
"To our knowledge, New York is the first," said Jonathan Adkins, deputy executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. "It's an intriguing approach and one that we think will pay dividends and be duplicated in other states."
Reports suggest that troopers have ticketed 5,553 drivers over a two-month period during summer, for texting while driving, when compared to 924 in the same period of 2012. Taller and unmarked SUV's may help the state to catch even more drivers when driving.
In April this year, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed that at any moment during daylight hours around 660,000 drivers in the country may be texting, using cell phones or using electronic devices. The safety agency also revealed that in 2012, over 3,300 people were killed and around 387,000 injured in crashes, which were caused by distracted driving.
The New York State Police is worried that texting while talking may rise in the near term and as such, putting stricter controls in place can avoid many accidents.
