Please report the plate to the police. If they can't do anything right away, at least they'll have documentation for future cases.

for the past so many years, the municipality enforcing the law only received $10 of the ticket (which was an increase from $0 back in the early '80s). it is my contention that there has not been enough of an incentive to enforce driving laws, which has brought us to the current culture of crazy drivers in new haven (and to a greater extent connecticut). this is in no way an endorsement, just sort of a "reality check" on where the public wants to be and where law enforcement and traffic safety policy is.

http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=427&which_year=2010

this year the legislature has passed SB #427 and it is onto the governor's desk to sign. there is no real reason why the governor won't sign it - the state of CT has been hand picked by the US DOT as a special enforcement state on distracted driving and the governor has proposed numerous bills this year that would meet the goal of reducing distracted driving. the new law would remove the 2005 provision waiving the violation for first time users and grant to the municipality writing the ticket 25% of the revenue. this would adequately share the revenue for tickets and (rightly or wrongly, but in the real world necessary) provide the incentive to cities' bottom lines to enforce this law. This means that the first fine for a person will be $100; second $150; and third or more $200.

I am glad you put this issue up here on SeeClickFix. I think you should ask your friends and neighbors to write your legislature and governor rell and thank them for crafting MUCH needed amendments to the legislation. You can email directly from this website: http://www.ccmlac.org/site/email_legislators.cgi

Also, you can tweet governor rell @GovernorRell to show your support for the change in legislation.

I was given a ticket last year for having my cellphone in my hand, I wasn't using it at all and I wasn't intending to use it, but I had it in my hand and was about to put it on my passenger seat when I got pulled over and ticketed. The cop said it looked like I was about to use my cell and drive and I told him to check my phone and we can even call my service provider. While he was busy running my plate and writing my ticket and I had to sit in agony as I watched two cars drive pass with both drivers heavily engrossed in a conversation, with the phone to their ear....I guess the law is only ordered on certain people...
Yesterday when I was coming home from church I was driving behind yet another person who was so into their conversation that they apparently forgot they needed to use their indicator light while turning or maybe she thought I was a mind reader. She almost hit this kid on a bike who was at the curb and the nerve to yell profanities at the poor kid while driving away...but the funniest part happened after when a police car passed me and the cop was busy chatting away on his cell phone...way to go NHPD, glad you're on top of the real crimes...

Cops are exempt for the cell phone law

Are police really exempt from this law?
I don't understand why they would be. Just because they have a blue uniform on with a badge doesn't mean they are not affected by the distractions of cell phones. I mean sure for emergency's they should be exempt but I usually see them laughing or smiling and it doesn't look too much like a phone call that HAD to be taken while they are driving.

I strongly agree this needs to be fixed.

Can the city please do a massive, month-long ticketing blitz once the 25% provision that Doug alluded to kicks in (which I think is October 1st)?

Just in the past 2 days, I have seen 2 pedestrians almost hit by drivers who were talking on their cell phones and driving as if they were half-zombies.

It's only a matter of time before more residents are killed or injured by this behavior.

Perhaps even more importantly, the fact people are driving in this way is destroying our quality of life, which negatively impacts economic development, people's ability to enjoy walking outside with their families, and the civic perception of our city.

I strongly support this request as well.

I agree. I also think we need to crack down on NHPD talking on their cell phones while working Period. They have radios to communicate with for work. I am tired of seeing cops talking on their phones like little teenage girls. There is no reason they should ever be on a cell phone. Use the radio we bought you.

I haven't seen a cop swerving in traffic because of a cell phone (or radio), so no opinion on that one. I can't imagine how crappy their jobs must be. Daily exposure to violence, abuse, Hep C and AIDS? I can cut them some slack.

As for non-law enforcement officials, distracted driving is a serious issue that should be addressed. I second Mark's request for a ticketing blitz. It irks me to constantly practice defensive driving to accommodate self absorbed idiots.

I am outraged at the fact that I have to sit at every light after it turns green for several extra seconds while those morons who need to chat their way through a decidedly red light finish the business of driving down the street. I usually meet up with them at the next red light so their actions are pointless. I used to call these people "car workers" because you could see them rooting around in their cars looking for something, paying scant attention to the road. Now everybody blows lights on a regular basis. I saw a cop doing it this morning. No, he didn't have his lights on. I have seen everything from teenagers to gray-headed senior citizens tooling through the light as though they had a god-given right because they had to suffer the indignity of stopping and not making it through on "their turn". I have to turn into my street on a left-hand arrow - after the arrow is illuminated at least three entitled folk in the opposing lane decide they can continue driving straight through - chatting away. There are some mighty popular people in our city, and really important because they need to be in constant contact with someone for some reason. Perhaps they are all brain surgeons on their way to the hospital on an emergency, and must not only blow every light they must talk their way in for the safety of the patient. At least that is what I am going to tell myself.

Stop it people! You are ruining my city. The quality of life is being destroyed, and the very fabric of our civility is rendered useless.

I agree with Westrockave.

Combating distracted driving and cell phones, which kill thousands of Americans every year, is a major initiative of the Obama administration and the United Nations as well (with cell-phone caused distracted driving now predicted to kill more global residents per year than AIDS/HIV).

Can the city harness some of these new initiatives for grant funding? When will progressive thinking filter down to New Haven?

A great place to watch for these brain surgeons is at Grasso Blvd and Derby Ave. People on important calls consistently run red lights through this 21-lane intersection as gracefully as ballet dancers (only more flexible as their heads are entirely up their @#$%).

There's been a huge increase in police monitoring traffic, so maybe funds from tickets will be able to provide further funding to continue the police presence. Keep up the phone calls, important people of the universe! I can't afford a Hummer and helmet to go across town, so your tickets will have to suffice.

Thank you for the tip on where to look for distracted drivers.

Let's hope the new distracted driving laws help (they were passed by a vote of something like 140 to 3 in the legislature, if I recall correctly).

Can someone confirm they were signed into law by Governor Rell?

New Haven Citizen - um, heres a thought! Instead of waiting for a parent of this unknown child to ask for the details on here, how about actually REPORTING it to the police?! Stop sitting on your butt and DO SOMETHING instead of just complaining! What you saw was a 'hit and run' it doesnt matter that he wasn't externally bleeding or visually hurt. Who knows what went on inside his body. Have some common sense here - call the cops and make a report! You should have gone to the child as well and had him sit down and wait for help.

And for the record, YES, *I* do do something about issues like those.

Are there any plans for a ticketing blitz?

Does someone have the new police chief's email address?

Edgewood - I have but further more, cops-on-cells are often too involved with their phone calls to bother seeing crime and traffic violations happening right in front of their faces!

How do the police expect the public to abide by the laws when they see the police breaking them or ignoring them every day!? Do you KNOW how often I see cops turn a blind eye to issues, commit them themselves or be too involved in their break/cellcall to bother doing their job? I see it EVERY DAY!

While I totally blame our society for their own shortfalls, I also blame our police for not writing enough tickets, including on pedestrians.

Who is going to abide by the law if they know they wont get repremanded for breaking them?

E - I agree with the reporting but the past few times I've reported, the police haven't done anything.

I'd like to see the actual number of tickets given out for this type of dangerous behavior, broken down by neighborhood and time of day.

I completely agree with you Mark. Its pitiful!

Ticketing blitz? Why do we even need one of these? It should be a "ticketing blitz" every day.

Mark - perhaps this can be one of the 'asks' of the new data guru that was hired by the NHPD?

Sounds like a great idea.

Will the new chief be making the rounds at different community groups, like Chief Lewis did?

Good Question Mark,
I have yet to meet this Chief. Has anyone else?
Lewis was successful because he faced the citizens w/o the barriers of city hall or his officers.

I and other neighbors have had a lot of communication with LT Reddish recently and feel like he has reached directly to citizens crossing over many of the weaknesses of the department that are inherent in many of the attitudes of Officers on the street.

Limon should make sure to do the same or just line Reddish up as the next Chief IMHO.

The Downtown-Wooster Square CMT and the Wooster Square Blockwatch with be holding a joint meeting at the Church on Wooster Square

June 15th, 6pm

Chief Limon will be the guest speaker for the evening, and we will be discussing safety for District 1.

I will post more official locations/addresses when I have them - you can join our google groups below for more up to date information -

Doug Hausladen
Downtown-Wooster Square CMT
http://groups.google.com/group/DWSCMT

Wooster Square Watch Google Group
http://groups.google.com/group/woostersqwatch

Mark - per the CGA, the bill was signed into law on 6.3.10!

http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=427&which_year=2010

E,

As evidenced by the dates between my posts, I do not possess the same amount of time as you to "sit on my butt and complain". Perhaps this was simply a passing moment of Freudian projection.

In response to your "suggestions" - my assessment and actions in this particular example allowed for a licence plate and photo of the driver to be turned into police along with the reported crime.
Appropriate action was taken. (Twenty-nine days ago.)
I don't have much use for how you believe one should, could, and would respond (emphasis on past tense), as it is useless advice twenty-nine days later. Thank you for your input, though.

The very reason SeeClickFix exists is for "complaining", e.g., the "empowerment, efficiency, and engagement" of a community. These complaints are likely made while using a computer and sitting at a desk (astute assumption that one uses their posterior in doing so). My "complaint" was, and still is, the very real danger of distracted driving in my city.

Please don't derail future topics with emotional ruminations and abuse of capitalization if you truly care about resolving problems.

How many traffic tickets have been given out for cell phone violations this year?

This issue was recategorized from Uncategorized to Policing Issue.

We are closing this request due to its historic nature. If this concern still requires attention and you still believe SeeClickFix is a viable tool for its resolution the best way for it to be addressed is for you to create a new request including a current description of what is occurring and what solution you hope to see regarding this matter, citing/linking this request in the details. Thank you for your dedication to improving the quality of life in our community.