Crime & Safety

Philadelphia Leads PA Counties in Driver-Texting Tickets

The state ban is now a year old.

Eric Campbell's profile picture
Eric Campbell, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
|

The first year of Pennsylvania's ban on texting while driving resulted in 1,302 tickets being given statewide, including 243 in Philadelphia, according to an analysis by AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Philadelphia led Pennsylvania counties in total driver-texting tickets given, according to AAA. Police in Montgomery County, with 111 tickets, were No. 2. Delaware County police issued 75, ranking No. 4, and Chester County police issued 49, ranking No. 7.

The law took effect March 8, 2012. It made texting while driving a primary offense, which means drivers can be pulled over for it, and it carries a $50 fine.

Find out what's happening in Chestnut Hill-Mt. Airywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When comparing the ratio of total population to tickets issued, using the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, Philadelphia's citation rate exceeded the state average by more than 50 percent.  

Here's how ticket totals corresponded to populations elsewhere:

Find out what's happening in Chestnut Hill-Mt. Airywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Place Population Driver-texting tickets Tickets per 100,000 pop. Chester County 503,897 49 9.7 Delaware County 559,494 75 13.4 Montgomery County 804,210 111 13.8 Philadelphia 1,536,471 243 15.8 Pennsylvania 12,743,948 1,302 10.2

How often do you text while driving? Are you worried about getting ticketed? Please tell us in the comments section below.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Chestnut Hill-Mt. Airy