CHP officers out of the Santa Rosa office wrote 29 tickets for cell phone violations during Wednesday’s crackdown on drivers, while CHP and other police agencies across the Bay Area issued a whopping more than 1,600 citations.

On Aug. 10 — the first day of the two-day crackdown –local officers wrote nine tickets. CHP Officer Jon Sloat said local CHP officers typically hand out about 100 cell phone tickets a month, or about 3.3 a day. Across the Bay Area on Aug. 10, about 350 citations were issued.

The law requiring drivers to go hands-free when using cell phones easily is one of the most ignored laws in the state. Plus holding a cell phone while driving, like any other distraction, is unsafe. Thus the crackdown.

If you get a cell phone ticket, it’s going to cost you $142 ($20 base fine plus $122 in state and county fees) for the first offense and
$256 ($50 base fine and $206 in state and county fees) for subsequent tickets. A state senator’s effort to basically double those base fines was killed last week in the Assembly. CLICK HERE to read about those fees.

CHP Officer Brandie Dressel of the San Jose office said the huge increase in tickets on Wednesday compared to the first day was because more police agencies participated in the second day and more CHP officers were on patrol. It turned out that during the first day many Bay Area CHP officers were in training sessions rather than on patrol.