It’s been more than a decade since California prohibited drivers from writing, sending or reading text messages while behind the wheel, yet 8,600 drivers in San Diego were ticketed for that over a 19-month period, according to city police data from 2017 through July of this year.

San Diego Police Department data show another 4,200 people were cited for holding or using a cellphone without a hands-free device, which became illegal last year following the passage of the more recent Wireless Communications Device Law.

According to an analysis of citations by census tract — small geographic areas inside cities and counties — more than 11 percent of such tickets were issued in Kearny Mesa. The 1,400 citations issued in that area is more than double the amount doled out in an area of downtown San Diego that had the second highest number of tickets.

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About 720 citations are not included in the map due to incomplete or missing address information.

San Diego Police Officer Mark McCullough said it’s normal for there to be a concentration of cellphone-related tickets in specific areas or intersections, since police are more likely to patrol or conduct proactive enforcement in busy areas or regions known for having a high volume of accidents.

For example, 6 percent of all tickets occurred in the Core Columbia and East Village, which contains the section of 10th Avenue where state Route 163 ends.


“They’re trying to get people off the phone before they get too far into the city streets,” McCullough said. “We usually put an officer or two down there to monitor the area.”

Kearny Mesa is surrounded by freeways, including state Route 52 and Interstate 805, and contains at least a dozen on- and off-ramps.

Data show an area of Pacific Beach that includes the entrance and exit to Interstate 5 had the third highest number of tickets, some 616 citations since January 2017. Officers issued another 170 tickets to drivers in a nearby census tract, also in Pacific Beach.

“When you have a mixture of pedestrians, bikes, scooters and cars, it has the potential for serious injuries or crashes all the time,” McCullough said. “We go down there and work that part of the community — put officers on those corners to help prevent that from happening.”


Data show cellphone-related tickets are more likely to be issued during morning commutes. Some 1,700 tickets were issued from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Tuesday afternoons are common as well, with more than 760 citations issued from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, some 481,000 people nationwide use cellphones and drive during daylight hours. The distractions of changing playlists, using phone apps or checking messages at the wheel cause thousands of deaths each year.

Safety administration officials found that nearly 3,500 people nationwide were killed by distracted driving in 2016. Teens were the largest age group reported as distracted at the time of fatal crashes.

McCullough said officers aren’t able to catch everyone using a phone behind the wheel and it’s likely that crash statistics don’t capture the actual number of accidents caused by cellphone use.


Most officers are responding to calls for service, he said, and aren’t able to write tickets for small infractions. Through funding from the federal government, the California Office of Traffic Safety offers municipalities one-year grants to hire additional officers to crack down on specific crimes, including distracted driving.

Those tickets don’t always involve a phone, McCullough said. Officers can write tickets for a number of activities that cripple or obstruct a driver’s focus, such as eating and driving or having a pet on the driver’s lap.

To avoid a ticket, drivers should have their phones “cradled” in the lower corner of the windshield or mounted to the console or dashboard in a way that doesn’t block the view of the road or get in the way of airbags.

According to the law, drivers are allowed to swipe the screen of their phone if they do not have voice activation or Bluetooth to accept a call.


“But that’s it,” McCullough said. “If you’re holding your phone, tapping it, holding it to your chin, then it’s a violation.”

Drivers who are under the age of 18 are not allowed to use any cellphone device while driving. Fifteen citations went out to drivers for violating that rule. In early 2018, three people were ticketed for using their phone and operating a school bus or transit vehicle.

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