Texting while driving ticket blitz hits these 202 N.J. towns starting Sunday

This terrible (but tempting) activity will be blitzed with a $1.4 million dollar grant as part of Distracted Driving Awareness Month, putting extra police and equipment on the road in many local towns, including Millburn, Montclair, West Orange and Livingston, to name a few.  Don't even think of touching your cellphone while in the car for any reason while your car is not in "Park":

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/03/nj_ticket_blitz_cops_in_these_202_towns_gearing_up_for_next_weeks_texting_ticket_blitz.html?ath=9c21d4e1edb2a97eb087defdbf611aaf#cmpid=nsltr_herostrybutton_single

Good.

Just had a close call while walking home from work, in the crosswalk and with the light in my favor. Driver was texting WITH BOTH HANDS as he ran a red light. P.S. I'm not sure putting a vehicle in Park excludes you from following the law. I have been told being behind the wheel of a running car counts as driving. Maybe someone knows the specifics?

Heynj said:

Just had a close call while walking home from work, in the crosswalk and with the light in my favor. Driver was texting WITH BOTH HANDS as he ran a red light. P.S. I'm not sure putting a vehicle in Park excludes you from following the law. I have been told being behind the wheel of a running car counts as driving. Maybe someone knows the specifics?

If true then that is just messed up. If I decide I need to update a family member on something and pull over to the side of the road and briefly park to send a text and don’t re-enter traffic until I am done with the text, I shouldn’t be treated the same as someone driving down the roadway who is actually texting while driving. And penalizing someone who actually pulls over and doesn’t pick up the phone until the car is in park will only serve to make people think there is no reason to pull over since they can be ticketed anyway 

I recall the instructions were to pull over to the side of the road to use the cell phone.

While I don’t agree with it, texting at a light is legal.

spontaneous said:

Heynj said:

Just had a close call while walking home from work, in the crosswalk and with the light in my favor. Driver was texting WITH BOTH HANDS as he ran a red light. P.S. I'm not sure putting a vehicle in Park excludes you from following the law. I have been told being behind the wheel of a running car counts as driving. Maybe someone knows the specifics?

If true then that is just messed up. If I decide I need to update a family member on something and pull over to the side of the road and briefly park to send a text and don’t re-enter traffic until I am done with the text, I shouldn’t be treated the same as someone driving down the roadway who is actually texting while driving. And penalizing someone who actually pulls over and doesn’t pick up the phone until the car is in park will only serve to make people think there is no reason to pull over since they can be ticketed anyway 

You’re not getting ticketed for pulling over, parking your car, and then texting. 

I get that advertising that they are running a campaign is good but all it does is make people not do it now....and they’ll just go back to doing what they normally do afterwards. 

39:4-97.3  The use of a wireless telephone or electronic communication device by an operator of a moving motor vehicle on a public road or highway shall be unlawful except when the telephone is a hands-free wireless telephone or the electronic communication device is used hands-free, provided that its placement does not interfere with the operation of federally required safety equipment and the operator exercises a high degree of caution in the operation of the motor vehicle. For the purposes of this section, an "electronic communication device" shall not include an amateur radio.

The law specifies moving motor vehicle.  So if you pull over and stop to text, even if the car is still in drive, then you are in the clear.  So you cannot get a ticket for texting in a car that is running but not moving.  

spontaneous said:

39:4-97.3  The use of a wireless telephone or electronic communication device by an operator of a moving motor vehicle on a public road or highway shall be unlawful except when the telephone is a hands-free wireless telephone or the electronic communication device is used hands-free, provided that its placement does not interfere with the operation of federally required safety equipment and the operator exercises a high degree of caution in the operation of the motor vehicle. For the purposes of this section, an "electronic communication device" shall not include an amateur radio.

The law specifies moving motor vehicle.  So if you pull over and stop to text, even if the car is still in drive, then you are in the clear.  So you cannot get a ticket for texting in a car that is running but not moving.  

I know.  

Same for being at a red light, unless they got the 2017 bill out of the Transportation Cmte and put to a vote.  The highlighted phrase was exactly one of their primary reasons for seeking an amendment to the current law. 

I've heard stories from people who were stopped and ticketed when in Drive on the side of the road, or at a red light, when they said they weren't moving, and the officer said it didn't matter.  Maybe they were making it up.  I suppose the officer could also claim that there wasn't a complete stop, or the driver wasn't paying attention to the change of light and then give out a careless driving citation.