It seems the lengthy warning period wasn’t long enough for some chatty drivers.
In the first week of the distracted driving bill, Bill 118, Durham Regional Police charged 63 drivers for texting, chatting or fiddling with hand-held devices.
In total, 60 drivers were charged for holding or using a cell phone while not in hands-free mode and three were charged with holding or using an entertainment device while driving.
The law officially came into effect on Feb.1, 2010. It prohibits the use of hand-held wireless communication devices, hand-held entertainment devices and certain electronic display screens while driving, say police.
Devices included in the ban are blackberries, cell phones, iPods, programming or changing information on GPS devices and having display screens, like DVD players and laptop computers, visible to the driver.
Police say distracted driving is one of the leading causes of collisions on roadways and is sometimes compared to impaired driving. Durham Police say they will continue to strictly enforce this law.