Drivers in Damariscotta might want to think before they text. A single text can result in a fine of $310 for a first offense or $610 for subsequent violations, and the Damariscotta Police Department is actively enforcing the texting-and-driving law.
A two-hour special detail downtown resulted in two $310 tickets March 25. The next day, Officer Erick Halpin wrote another ticket after a near head-on collision.
Halpin had just turned from Biscay Road onto Standpipe Road when “someone swerved to avoid hitting me because they were in my lane, coming head-on,” he said. The driver admitted he had been deleting a message from his iPhone.
Damariscotta police point to texting and driving as the cause of at least two accidents in the last year. In one incident, the driver was operating under the influence and texting.
“There’s obviously a problem,” Damariscotta Police Chief Ron Young said. “It’s unsafe, and we’re trying to send the message that we’re not going to tolerate folks who are distracted drivers or operating a mobile device while driving.”
The special details will continue downtown and elsewhere in town, Halpin said.
An officer alone in a cruiser might not see a driver text, depending on his vantage point. The details employ a plainclothes officer where he can see drivers’ hands. The plainclothes officer watches for violations and radios a cruiser nearby to make the stop.
The officers witnessed some flagrant violations during the first detail, including a driver using a cellphone and a laptop at the same time. Another traveled an entire block in heavy traffic while using a mobile device.
Drivers sometimes think they can skirt the law. “The first excuse is, ‘I wasn’t texting. I was checking an email. I was deleting an email,'” Halpin said.
According to Maine law, however, text messaging “means reading or manually composing electronic communications, including text messages, instant messages, and emails, using a portable electronic device.”
Drivers often text at stoplights or in traffic, but the law bans this behavior as well.
The law applies to “driving a motor vehicle on a public way with the motor running, including while temporarily stationary” for a stop sign or traffic light. One of the two texting-related accidents in Damariscotta was at the Biscay Road traffic light.
Halpin distributes copies of the statute to drivers with their tickets.
For young drivers with an intermediate license, the punishment for a first offense increases to $370 and a 60-day suspension. A second offense results in a 180-day suspension; a third and the driver loses his or her license for a full year.
Drivers with intermediate licenses cannot talk on cellphones either.
For all other drivers, two violations in three years results in an automatic 30-day suspension, according to the law. The suspension increases to 60 days and 90 days for subsequent violations within the same three year-period.
The police realize the fines and suspensions are a big hit to the wallet and do not want to ticket anyone unless they have to.
“We want voluntary compliance, first and foremost,” Young said. “If we can make them aware we’re going to be watching for this, hopefully that will be the end of it.”
“We’re hoping to send a message to not operate a mobile device while driving, including in traffic or at a stop sign,” Young said. “If you do need to use a mobile device, pull off the roadway, stop in a safe place, and use it then.”