New Jersey transportation officials say a year-old state law banning cell phone use while driving has resulted in nearly 109,000 summonses issued in the past 11 months.

That’s almost double the amount of tickets handed out during the previous five years for the offense.

A state law signed on March 1 last year makes talking on hand-held cell phones while driving a primary offense. That means police are now able to stop motorists just for talking on the phone.

Division of Highway Safety director Pam Fischer says the primary law is making a difference, resulting in about 10,000 tickets a month.

New Jersey is among four states and the District of Columbia that have made using a cell phone while driving a primary offense.

Alright. I call bullshit on this law “working.” What measure, exactly is being used to judge whether or not this law is working? Go ahead – go back and reread the article and tell me how we know the new law is working. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Did you see anything? More tickets being written? Yeah, okay. And? What does this prove? Nothing!

I hate this type of crap because today’s society is so consumed with doing a million things in a day that it is a rare thing to read and critically review information that is presented to us by the media. This is the main reason why the mainstream media is garbage and there is a rising class of entertainment-as-real-news that is taking over the ratings.

Most people will read this post on My FOX NY and just read the headline and scan for a quote from someone official affirming or refuting the headline. In other words, there are probably masses of people out there who saw this bogus article and now, in passing, would comment that the cell phone ban in New Jersey is working. Let’s shed some reality on this situation…

Nearly everyone in New Jersey has a cell phone crammed in their ear while they are driving or their thumbs are going a mile a minute texting away in traffic. Don’t deny it, my fellow Garden Staters – you know that you’re guilty of this in the car. Don’t deny it! And that includes some of the worst offenders – our law enforcement officers!

Anyway, this cell phone ban is not working. And for the love of God, just because more tickets are being written does not mean that a piece of legislation is success! Just like most of the other traffic-related laws on New Jersey’s books, this cell phone ban is yet another way for local municipalities to raise more money off of the already broken backs of our overtaxed population.

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I was (and still am) annoyed that we can no longer just put the phone to our ear while driving in New Jersey, but I started using a headset. By the way, the reason why I’m still annoyed by this stupid, overreaching law is because almost every police officer I drive by on the road has a phone jammed into his ear, but the “do as I say, not as I do” thing is topic for a different entry.

Like many other drivers in New Jersey, I started using a headset and driving with the headset on isn’t that bad! However, the Safety Council suggests the following:

Froetscher said the council examined more than 50 scientific studies before reaching its decision. One was a study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that estimates 6 percent of vehicle crashes, causing about 2,600 deaths and 12,000 serious injuries a year, are attributable to cell phone use. Hands-free cell phones are just as risky as hand held phones, she added.

I’m sorry, but there have got to be additional reasons for these accidents. An it’s time that Americans stop refraining from telling the truth – sometimes you get really, really stupid people behind the wheel of a car and their own stupidity is part of the reason why they get into accidents. If you’re drinking a cup of coffee, flipping through the newspaper, and talking on a cell phone all at the same time, then guess what? You should be focusing on driving! If you’re a young driver who is skittish on the road as it is, then guess what? You shouldn’t be on a cell phone! If you have problems focusing on one or two issues at a time, then guess what? You shouldn’t be on a cell phone!

In the mean time, those people who have mastered multitasking and understand that even if you can manage to do five things at once, YOU SHOULDN’T may eventually be stuck with the inability to use their cell phones while driving. It’s ridiculous that we legislate to the least among us as opposed to asking for some personal responsibility from all among us.