221 LI violations in 'Operation Hang-Up'

State troopers issued 221 violations on Long Island for distracted driving during their latest "Operation Hang-Up" campaign.

Statewide, police issued 3,172 tickets during the second such operation in five months, and a spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Friday that drivers should be warned -- there'll be more down the road.

The crackdown on the use of cellphones and handheld devices while driving was April 23 through last Sunday. Of the tickets issued by State Police on Long Island, 112 were in Nassau and 109 in Suffolk. There were more than 200 tickets issued in each of Albany, Ulster, Orange and Westchester counties.

Cuomo said in a statement the fact state police had issued more than 3,000 violations in a week was "a wake-up call for all of us -- motorists must change their behaviors and stop putting themselves and others at risk."

The governor signed a law strengthening enforcement of distracted driving violations last July, making use of a handheld electronic device while driving a primary traffic offense and enabling police to pull motorists over solely for that. Subsequently, the penalty increased from two to three points. Under the law, merely viewing a phone or other handheld electronic device while driving is illegal.The state funds the hang-up campaigns through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The first crackdown, during the Thanksgiving holiday period, ticketed 816 drivers.

State Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset), a sponsor of the legislation, said Friday that he was disappointed people don't seem to be getting the message. He was adamant the ready availability of "hands-free" systems for cars of all ages meant there is no longer an excuse.

"It's sad because people will get maimed and die from injuries as a result of this activity. . . . I would hope local police too will keep a sharp eye and continue to crack down because it will save lives in the long run," Marcellino said.

Nassau Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), who pioneered county legislation requiring hands-free cellphone use prior to the state law, said the requirement had raised awareness that people "are holding a death instrument in their hands" and the need to focus on non-distracted driving.

Recent research shows drivers talking on phones are four times more likely to be involved in a crash, and the behavior of such drivers is equivalent to the behavior of drunk drivers at the threshold of the legal limit of a 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level. Texting increases the risk more than 23 times. The NHTSA attributed more than 3,000 deaths last year to distracted driving.