North Carolina Slow to Prosecute Teens for Cell Phone Driving Offenses

Dan Deuterman

Contributor

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Distracted teenage drivers chatting away on the cell phone can have deadly consequences, as we've written about here before.

But only 23 teens in North Carolina have been convicted so far under a state law that went into effect last year that bans teenage drivers from talking on cell phones. These stats make me wonder and ask two questions:

Are cops too busy to stop and ticket teen drivers who are violating the ban on using a cell phone while driving?

Or has teen cell phone use while driving been exaggerated? (I throw this question out here just be be balanced, not because I really believe the answer is yes.)

In North Carolina, teen violators of the law can receive a $25 fine and have six months added to their graduated license requirements.

Besides laws like this one in my state, what can be done to keep teens from texting while driving and talking on the phone while driving?

For more information on this subject, please see our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.