People who text while driving stand little chance of getting ticketed by state police in most of the nation despite bans on the practice by 39 states and the District of Columbia.
Some state police agencies average fewer than one citation per day, according to a USA TODAY survey:
Tennessee state troopers began tracking texting-while-driving citations on Jan. 1, 2010, says spokesman Kevin Crawford. Through April 25, they had cited 946 drivers -- an average of 24 a month.
Since the Louisiana ban on texting while driving was enacted on July 1, 2008, state police there have written 1,059 citations, says Capt. Doug Cain. That's an average of 18 per month.
In North Dakota, where the law was enacted Aug. 1, 2011, the Highway Patrol has issued 117 citations -- about six per month.
These totals include only those citations issued by state police or troopers and don't count tickets by city and county police agencies. In some states, including Wyoming, Alabama and Rhode Island, the vast majority of texting citations are written by state police; in other states, such as Oregon, local police write more tickets.
"No one seems to really know (how often police are writing texting citations)," says Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which is studying how many texting citations are issued annually. "I think there's a general perception that there isn't" much enforcement.
Good enforcement of texting laws is critical in curbing the practice among young drivers, who fear a ticket more than they fear injury or death, says Sandy Spavone of National Organizations for Youth Safety, a coalition of more than 70 groups.
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