Davis Law Group, P.S.

State Patrol Reports 670 Talking/Texting Violations in 20 days

The Washington State Patrol is reporting that within the first twenty days of the new cell phone law taking effect on June 10th, officers issued 670 tickets.

In case you are unaware, on June 10th Washington State officially made talking on phone with a hands free device and texting a primary offense. In the past, both violations were classified as secondary offenses meaning that a driver could not be pulled over on basis that they were talking on the phone. However, when the law became a primary offense it meant that officers have the right to pull you over simply for talking on your phone without a blue tooth or any other kind of hands free device.

In addition to the 670 tickets that have been issued, the Washington State Patrol also said that another 500 warnings were issued, giving a ratio of 1.34 tickets given out for every warning issued. This ratio is said to be on par with other major traffic violations such as speeding.

Overall, the Washington State Patrol believe the majority of drivers have done a great job in complying with the new law and because of that, it has made those who are not easy to spot. "Those who continue to flout the law are now much easier to spot," State Patrol Chief John Batiste said.

With the law becoming a primary offense this year, there were over 500 more violations handed out for talking a cell phone in June of this year as compared to June of 2009.

At Davis Law Group, we are in full support of the cell phone law. Nothing is more important than the safety of all drivers on road, and as a personal injury attorney in Seattle, founder of Davis Law Group Chris Davis has seen too many cases of people who have been seriously injured because someone was paying attention to their phone and not the road.

"If this law saves one life, it will worth it." -Chris Davis