Darien police issue 724 cell phone tickets in 2008

Written by Austin Amoroso
Friday, January 23, 2009

Darienites just can’t stop talking and driving.

The 2008 Darien Police Department citation statistics are in and again tickets for cell phone violations topped the list.

In total, Darien officers issued 724 cell phone tickets in 2008, 381 in the first six months and 343 in the last half of the year. Since the cell phone ban went into effect on Oct. 1, 2005, Darien police have handed out 600 to 800 tickets every year.

“I don’t know,” Officer T. Court Isaac previously told The  Darien Times when asked why drivers keep using hand-held phones while driving. “Some people think it’s just par for the course and some people just roll the dice with it. But a lot of it is so blatant, it’s really easy pickings.”

The second leading citation was for not wearing a seatbelt. Officers ticketed 656 drivers and passengers for a seatbelt violation, 314 in the first half of the year and 342 in the last six months.

Part of the seatbelt violations can be attributed to the national Click It or Ticket safety seatbelt enforcement campaign, which was held in three separate two-week stints through the year, one in May and two in the fall. For the May campaign, the department issued 221 seatbelt tickets at eight checkpoints around town. Also, 70 tickets were issued during regular patrols.

According to the state seat-belt law, all drivers and front seat passengers must wear their seatbelt while the vehicle is being operated. The driver is also responsible for securing the seatbelt of any passenger between 7 and 15 years old. If there is a child younger than 7 or less than 60 pounds, he or she must be in a child restraint seat. And children younger than 12 months or less than 20 pounds must be in a rear-facing restraint system.

The Click It or Ticket program is only one of a few state-run campaigns to crack down on driving violations.

Another leading violation was for speeding, with 501 total tickets in 2008. In the first half of the year ,299 tickets were written and 202 in the final six months of 2008.

“We get a lot of requests to set up on the road for speeders,” Isaac told The Times last year. “That’s usually one of the main complaints.”

Other car violations from 2008, including the violations for the first and second six months of the year, follow:

•    Operating without a license: 124 (total), 70 (first half), 54 (second half);

•    Operating without insurance: 108, 59, 49;

•    Traffic control sign: 153, 88, 65;

•    Stop sign: 111, 56, 55;

•    Traffic light: 167, 93, 74;

•    Passing school bus: 68, 35, 33;

•    Unregistered motor vehicle: 325, 153, 172;

•    Suspended license: 91, 49, 42;

•    Driving while intoxicated: 29, 23, 6;

•    Misuse of license plate: 94, 51, 43.