Texting While Driving: Virginia's Worst Offenders

It’s been one year since Virginia adopted its strictest law yet to curb texting while driving. According to data from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, here are the state's top areas for texting-while-driving convictions from the law's inception to April 30, 2014:

1. Fairfax County- 318

2. Prince William County - 130

3. Virginia Beach - 126

4. Arlington County - 79

5. Loudoun County - 50

6. Chesterfield - 47

7. Chesapeke - 44

8. Norfolk - 35

9. Henrico County - 34

10. Roanoke - 30

Texting while driving is now a primary offense in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, where authorities don’t need another infraction to pull over drivers caught with having phones in their hands. Drivers in Virginia are still allowed to use cellphones to make calls and use directions via GPS. Drivers are also permitted to text or email if the vehicle is parked or stopped.

Previously punishable by a $20 slap on the wrist, the new law makes it Illegal to communicate with another person, read a text message or email while driving. The law is punishable by a $125 fine for first offenders and a $250 fine for second or subsequent offenses. The law makes texting while driving a secondary offense for drivers younger than 18.

Since the law went into effect July 1, 2013, state police have issued 742 citations for texting while driving, the Chesterfield Observer reports.

The law originated through a national campaign led by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to gradually strengthen laws by raising public awareness of the issue. 44 states and the District of Columbia ban text messaging while driving for all drivers, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Administration.

“Driving distracted puts everybody at risk on a highway,”  Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty said in a news release. “According to preliminary data, driver distraction accounted for 20 percent of all fatal traffic crashes on Virginia’s roads in 2013. That accounts for 131 lives lost last year because of a driver failing to pay attention while behind the wheel of a vehicle.”

The law is difficult to enforce given the June Supreme Court ruling that officers must obtain search warrants to search data on cellphones. The ruling conflicts with existing laws that allow officers to search suspects’ pockets without a warrant, though there is no legal distinction between “pocket litter” and the contents of a suspect’s cellphone.