Distracted Driving Arrests Flat in Chester County

Distracted driving arrests in Chester County remained the same between 2013 and 2014, according to data released by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

In 2014, police in Chester County cited 45 drivers for driving with head phones and 75 for texting while driving, for a total of 120. That matches 2013’s numbers, but the arrests in each category shifted, with 37 citations for headphones in 2013 and 83 for texting. A total number of 310 distracted driving arrests were made in Chester County since 2012.

Statewide, Pennsylvania drivers were cited 1,410 times in 2014 for texting while driving and 711 times for using headphones while driving, according to the statistics. Those 2,121 total stops represents a 263 increase from 2013, when 1,858 distracted driving citations were issued.

In Pennsylvania it is illegal for drivers to read, write or send a text message while driving. Pennsylvania’s “no texting” law took effect in March 2012. Since then, more than 3,940 tickets for texting while driving have been issued statewide.

According to federal research, 3,154 people were killed and approximately 424,000 injured in motor vehicle crashes involv­ing distracted drivers in 2013.