Trending: Harrington, Seaford police write 200+ cell phone violation tickets

559
Advertisement

A crackdown on distracted driving  led to more than 200 tickets for cell phone handset use  in Harrington and Seaford.

During the 10-day  Delaware State Fair, the Harrington Police Department conducted several patrols that led to 183 tickets. The total included 105 tickets for cell phone handset use.

The department said non-traditional techniques were used in the effort.

 In June and July, the Seaford Police Department, in conjunction with the Delaware Office of Highway Safety, conducted ‘Operation Cool Down,’ a non-traditional distracted driving operation throughout the city of Seaford that led to 114 tickets for cell phone handset use. Forty one seatbelt violations were found.
  
During ‘Operation Cool Down,’ non-traditional policing methods were used  including  plain-clothes officers operating in unmarked vehicles such as family-style sedans, dump trucks, and utility vehicles.

Upon seeing a violation, plainclothes officers would then contact uniformed officers participating in the operation who would then conduct traffic stops in marked vehicles to issue citations. The most  successful times for enforcement citations occurred between 4 p.m.  and 8 p.m.  every day. 
 
The Seaford  operation was in response to over 80 calls for service involving distracted driving complaints in a three-month  period.  A total of 67 of those complaints involved speeding/aggressive driving and/or distracted driving.

Advertisement

Other complaints involved passing stopped school buses. In the same three-month period there were 165 complaints involving motor vehicle collisions on major roadways in Seaford.

Advertisement
Advertisement