Dover Police Cite 316 Distracted Drivers on Phones

Dover, Delaware, police have doled out more than 300 tickets to distracted drivers for texting and talking on their cell phones.

The 316 tickets were part of a 12-day blitz that ended Sunday and eclipse the amount of distracted driving tickets the department issued during the first eight months of the year. Just 291 citations were issued for distracted driving between Jan. 1 and Sept. 3.

Although the targeted effort is over, police say they’ll still be enforcing cell phone laws year-round in hopes of preventing car crashes.

Dover police say there were 146 crashes last year attributed to distracted driving in Delaware, including 54 injuries and three deaths.

Talking and texting while driving has been illegal in Delaware since 2011 and is punishable by a fine of more than $100.