Starting today, drivers in the city of Tucson could be stopped for using their cellphone.
Previously, the violation was a secondary offense, meaning officers needed to spot another violation before writing a cellphone ticket.
Lane Mandle of the City Manager’s Office said changing to a primary offense is necessary.
"We did all kinds of different public communication outreach efforts to try and reduce texting while driving, that wasn't particularly effective. We tried the secondary offense but again that was not particularly effective,” she said.
A 30-day warning period is in effect, which means police will hand out warning cards to violators. After that, a violation will carry a minimum $143 fine.
