Our Facebook fans wanted to know what's going on with the law
MARQUETTE -- The law that made driving while texting illegal was passed a little over a year ago, but viewers on the TV6 and FOX UP Facebook page asked us to revisit the issue because they're still encountering texters on the road.
Facebook fan Bridget Johnson posted on our Facebook page: "My husband and I got run off the road last fall by a person texting while driving on the highway; just drifted into our lane, had no idea what was going on. I wish there were stricter laws and that the police were stricter in general about cell phones and driving."
Since the law was passed in July of 2010, there have been only a couple tickets issued in Marquette county for texting.
Why so few? MSP Trooper Stacy Rasanen says she looks for opened keypads while patrolling the roads, but overall it's a tough law to enforce.
"I think that there's more people out there doing it than we actually know. The problem is that when you text, if you see the blue car or the police car that's going down the road, you're probably going to stop what you're doing or hide it," said Rasanen.
First offense tickets for texting are $175; second offense tickets are $275.
Statistics prove that drivers who text are four times more likely to get in an accident.
"If there was an accident that happened and that we had reason to believe that a person was texting, we could get a search warrant for their cell phone records to take a look at what they were doing at the time of the accident," Rasanen says.
But even if police can't prove you've been on the phone, they can write you up for careless or reckless driving, which is worse because you can get points on your license.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC