WINFIELD, W.Va. — The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department takes the state law which forbids driving and using on a cell phone to be extremely important. That’s why deputies aggressively pursued those who were using an electronic device behind the wheel in a recent sting.
During a 10-day period, Putnam County deputies wrote more than four dozen citations for using an electronic device while driving.
“I hope people see this is not something we take lightly. It’s very serious,” said Lt. Ryan Lockhart. “There are any number of hands free devices that can be obtained relatively inexpensive.”
Those cited were observed by a deputy operating the phone or other electronic devices in a manner other than “hands free”.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a cell phone,” said Lockhart. “If you’re going down the road and you’re typing on your Garmin, that’s a violation of this statute.”
Lt. Lockhart said this won’t be there last blitz looking specifically for districted driving and he hopes the message is delivered.
“If there’s a phone call you really have to take,” he said. “Obviously there’s the option of pulling off the road way to answer it.”