Chatty drivers ignoring cell-phone law

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerque drivers still have cell phones pasted to their ears despite receiving 3,000 citations this year from a police department that mostly has higher priorities than enforcing the city's ban.

In about an hour spent at San Mateo and Montgomery NE Wednesday afternoon KRQE News 13 counted 75 drivers using their cell phones.

One after another, drivers flew by yapping away oblivious to the city ordinance that since February 2007 has prohibited the use of hands-on cell phones while driving except to call 911.

There must not have been a cop around, either.

Even though we were able to catch 75 offenders, APD officers have only handed out about 3,000 tickets citywide so far this year.

John Walsh with the department says there are two reasons for that.

“When you are behind a patrol car a lot of times people simply slip that cell phone down so they go unobserved," he said. “A lot of times there are warnings issued depending on the officer's discretion, which we never want to take away from.”

Walsh also said talking on a cell phone is a hard habit to break.

“But with any behavior change it does take time," he added.

Walsh said APD can't just focus on this problem because it will take officers away from other patrol duties. Crackdown operations are the easiest way to catch offenders, he said.

But there is one APD division dedicating its officers' time.

“Our traffic division has made this one of their top priorities, but once again the traffic division is a limited amount of officers," Walsh said.

Officers will be cracking down more during the holidays, according to Walsh, when cell phone usage in cars goes way up these last two months as people try and cram more duties into their day.

Drivers caught on the road and on the phone without a hands-free device can be fined $100 for the first offense and $200 for any ticket after that.