MichiganRadio

Michigan Police Issue Few Tickets Under New Texting Law ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - After calling nearly every County Sheriff's Office in southern lower Michigan, the grand total of tickets issued for people texting while driving appears to be two.

Ottawa County issued one ticket after a police officer drove up next to a driver who was texting while the car was moving. Oakland County issued the other, after the driver was pulled over and admitted to texting while driving.

Oakland County Under Sheriff Mike McCabe is surprised any tickets have been issued, since he says the law is so hard to enforce:

"If a deputy suspects that someone's texting, they pull them over, talk to them. We're not going to get into a confrontation with them...we'll warn them and send them on their way. We're not going to get into a debate as to whether or not someone was texting."

The State Police department doesn't currently track specific citation violations, but a police spokesperson says starting next week they will track how many tickets are issued under the new texting law.

The fine for someone caught texting while driving is $100 the first time, $200 the next time.

Contact Jennifer Guerra at guerraj@umich.edu

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