Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Distracted driving citations decreased in Pa. during pandemic
HARRISBURG >> While the number of distracted driving citations decreased in Pennsylvania in 2020 during the pandemic, Montgomery and Chester counties were among the top three counties leading the state in the number of such citations, according to statistics compiled by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
With 188 distracted driving citations issued by police during 2020, Montgomery County ranked second in the state in the number of citations issued. Only
Allegheny County recorded more distracted driving citations, a total of 197 during 2020.
Still, Montgomery County’s 188 distracted driving citations represented a significant decrease from the 443 citations issued during 2019, the year before the pandemic surfaced, according to the state court data.
Chester County, where 116 distracted driving citations were issued in 2020, ranked third in the state in the number of citations. In 2019, before the pandemic surfaced, Chester County recorded 216 distracted driving citations.
Statewide, distracted driving citations decreased about 47% from 2019 to 2020, according to APOC data. During 2020, there were 2,293 distracted driving citations issued statewide, down from 4,292 in 2019.
Distracted-driving citations in Pennsylvania can be issued for using headphones while driving; using a handheld mobile phone while driving a commercial vehicle; and texting while driving. Texting includes sending, reading or writing a text-based message.
Montgomery County’s other neighboring counties recorded the following numbers of distracted driving citations during 2020:
• Berks, 103, down from 199 in 2019
• Lehigh, 90, down from 201 in 2019
• Delaware, 80, down from 177 in 2019
• Philadelphia, 74, down from 211 in 2019
• Bucks, 60, down from 139 in 2019
The AOPC highlights the work of the courts with data and statistics obtained through the judiciary’s case management systems, interactive dashboards and other research.
The AOPC compiles the data but does not interpret it.
Analyzing data for the five-year period 2016 to 2020, Montgomery County ranked first in the number of distracted driving citations issued, 2,207, or about 11.16% of the statewide total of 19,768, according to the AOPC.
The remaining top 10 counties with the highest percentage of distracted driving citations filed between 2016 and 2020 were: Allegheny (7.86%); Chester (5.82%); Philadelphia (4.92%); Cumberland (4.87%); Bucks (4.36%); Berks (4.08%); Lancaster (4.2%); York (4.01%); and Lehigh (3.88%).
According to the AOPC data, the greatest numbers of citations were issued between 10 a.m. and noon and the most citations, about 11%, were issued during the month of May.
Additionally, 56% of all citations were issued by the Pennsylvania State Police. The data indicated that 34% of the people cited were in their 20s and 71% of the people cited were male.