Suffolk ranks No. 1 in cellphone tickets

More drivers were ticketed in Suffolk for using hand-held cellphones than any other county outside New York City, according to new state data.

Various police departments in Suffolk gave out 5,355 such tickets from July 12 to Feb. 7, and Nassau had 4,366 of the offenses, putting it in third place outside the city, said the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In those seven months, 111,262 cellphone tickets were issued statewide -- 42,051 cellphone tickets outside New York City and 69,211 in the city, state officials said.

Last July, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law tougher penalties for those who drive and talk without hands-free devices or who text while driving. The law makes the violations "primary" offenses, giving police the power to pull drivers over solely for such offenses. Also under the new law, drivers get three points on their licenses instead of two for not using hands-free devices.

"These tickets should send a resounding message to all drivers: keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel," Cuomo said in a news release.

Cuomo's figures were released Monday, the same day the state Senate transportation committee, chaired by Republican Charles Fuschillo Jr. of Merrick, held a hearing on how the state can better prevent distracted driving, including enhancing education requirements for young drivers.

Statewide, there were 7,495 texting while driving tickets given out, data show. There were 476 such tickets given in Suffolk, the second highest number after Erie County, according to county data outside the New York City, and drivers in Nassau received 202 texting tickets, putting the county in sixth place in the state.

Nassau and Suffolk both passed bans on texting while driving in 2008. Suffolk's law was the first of its kind in the state.