41 people cited in one hour for using cellphones while driving in Torrance, police say

People in Torrance who talk on their cellphones while driving may want to rethink that idea after police there ticketed 41 drivers for allegedly talking on their cellphones over the span of an hour.

Officers from the Torrance Police Department's traffic and special events division set up an operation on Hawthorne Boulevard at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to stop drivers for talking or texting on their cellphones. The one-hour operation netted 41 violators, police said.

The operation was prompted, in part, by police officers' observations while on the road, said Sgt. Jeremiah Hart.

“We’re seeing this a lot. Let’s go out and do some education on this,” Hart said Thursday. “We’re trying to reduce distractions.”

One driver also was arrested for driving without a license, he said.

The total fine for a first cellphone violation is $142, including court fees and penalty assessments.

-- Raja Abdulrahim

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Comments

[Baffled Observer]

Good. Make the streets safer and raise some money from the scofflaws.

[RC]

They should do this kind of operation in every city all over LA. I 10-15 people driving and talking on the cell phone every day.

[George]

I'm glad the Torrance P0lice are so zealous about educating drivers and improving the safety of the roads in their city. But I can't avoid thinking that the officers' "observation" of an opportunity to bring in $5,822 for one hour's work might have been a very small but possibly significant contributor to rolling out their "education program."

These are desperate times for cities as well as for people. So I predict we can expect police to engage in lot of special "education" and "safety" programs that, by inexplicable coincidence, produce a lot of badly-needed revenue.

[sam]

It's about time they start enforcing this law. Every day, I see or am in an accident due to someone talking on their phone and not paying attending to the road. I'd bet that 1 in 20 drivers on the road are ignoring the law. Get 'em!

[Manuel]

Awesome. I noticed right after the law went into effect, I saw few drivers talking on their cellphones. But within a couple of months, it seemed lot of people thought the law expired and they've gone back to their old ways. This is a great way to educate people that driving should take priority.

[alan]

Nice followup to the article a few days back-- thanks LA Times.

I wonder if statistically, this made a dent in the shallow research collected from the study discussed in the previous article.

[groop]

I think the "education" of the bail amount needs more prominence. Most of the people I talk to think the first time fine is $20.

[LB]

I sure wish they would do the same in Newport Beach. It is frustrating to see the countless violaters every day.

[bbb]

They should do this on Sunset Strip. The city could balance the budget with all the tickets.

They could actually enforce motorcycle noise violations while they are at it.

But why would they do this? The cops are obviously too busy watching football on the big screens while parked outside Saddle Ranch Chop House. Tax dollars at "work".

[John Thompson]

Are we to understand that a simple twenty-dolar first offense cell phone violation becomes a $142 fine once the greedy bureaucrats add on their various and sundry "fees?" This is nothing highway robbery, pure and simple. Keep it up guys, and you'll soon drive (no pun intended) even more taxpayers out of California!

[Damon]

There is no California state law against talking on your cell phone while driving. The California law makes it illegal to talk on a hand held cell phone, in your hands, while driving. This article is misleading.

[Delia]

The more tickets drivers get, the more serious they will see it to be. Too many drivers drive and text/talk while driving. I take the MTA bus everyday and have seen some bus drivers doing it too. All citys should start cracking down

[Kat]

Yeah, revenue generator.

[RGK]

Education=Revenue Generation

[myturn]

$142 for the first offense? Bravo to the city of Torrance! Why doesn't the city of LA charge the same (or even higher) instead of the current laughable $20? If a cop pulled me over for doing that today, I'd simply open my wallet and pay it off! If LA wants to really get serious about this particularly stupid (not to mention extremely dangerous) bad habit, then they need to jack up the fine to go with it. Hey, maybe the extra revenue would help the current budget problem so people won't have to lose their jobs! Anyone in city hall awake yet!

[kdavid]

Finally! Enforcement of the law so it actually has a chance to make a difference. I wonder how much of a role the previous study article and readers comments of lack of enforcement played in the decision to launch the operation. Thank you, Torrance PD. Hey, all you other SoCal PDs, how about you?

[About Time]

It's about freaking time... But if the police want civilians to stop talking or texting on their cellphones, the POLICE need to set an example themselves. I have seen tons of Sworn Personnel while driving in their patrol vehicles on their personal cellphones.

[JohnRJ08]

Is that all? Everyday I see dozens of people driving around with their cellphone stuck to their ears, as if there was no law at all. Most of these people have the vacant stare of someone involved in an engrossing conversation. They're usually driving under the speed limit and frequently have to be honked at when the stoplight turns green. The city should make the fine for cellphone use while driving much steeper. Steep enough that it is just too much of a risk to get caught. If you can't pay the fine, there should be six months of community service. Until then, people are going to continue to thumb their nose at this law. I myself know people who have been involved in serious accidents when another driver couldn't stay off their phone and pay attention to the road.

[Skippy]

Good. Yesterday morning, some guy was merging onto the south 405 at Carson St., and just missed killing me and my wife, as he was paying absolutely no attention to what he was doing. My wife looked over after this near-death experience, and saw he was on his cell phone, unaware he had nearly slammed into us. Get off the damn phone!

[Darren Roqfort]

$5822 is not alot of money for the hour of police presence it took to catch all the cell phone abusers...

I agree with you that the CHP and the parking ticket people make a lot of money on stupid made-up violaitons, but city cops, not so much...

[stwsr]

I do believe that 1 in 20 in LA is a gross underestimate. I would venture to say that number varies according to where you are. For instance, I would say that the number is Beverly Hills is actually more like 15 out of 20, and depending on what time of day it is, it could be 20 out of 20.

[P J Evans]

I wish more police departments would do this.
I'd also like to see the fine raised - it's low enough that too many people think it's okay to use the cellphone while driving.

(It isn't the hands-on vs hands-free that's the problem: it's that people on the phone are oblivious to the world around them.)

[Drew]

If traffic laws were actually enforced on an ongoing basis, the roads would be safer and local governments would have a more reliable source of income.

One thing that would really cut the use io cell phones while driving -- confiscate the cell phones and force violators to go to court to get them back.

[Chris]

It's been so blatantly obvious that NO ONE has given the cell phone law any weight. This is a nice start: keep it up! With this sort of turn around rate we could get the budget back on track in no time! ;)

[BRYAN]

what a complete waste of resources. a study just released a week or so ago said that the new law made no difference in reducing the number of auto accidents. people are not going to stop talking on their phones while driving just like their not going to stop eating, drinking, changing the radio or any other of the many things that distract people while driving. i see cops on their phones all the time. ( but im sure its official police business right ;) they should be setting up operations to catch and deport illegal immigrants instead.