The initiative involves 600 officers and will be ongoing, according to officials at the Jalisco Transportation Department (Semov).
“We are positioning officers on the streets, even on places such as Lopez Mateos where we have traffic cameras already,” said Transport Director Francisco Poe Morales of the Jalisco Transportation Department (Semov). “If we see someone pass by talking on the phone, we’ll notify our officers: ‘You know what? Up ahead there’s a white vehicle of this model with these plates,’ and then we’ll stop them and apply the fine.”
The number of drivers ticketed for using their cellphones while driving in metropolitan Guadalajara has quadrupled in recent years, with 1,328 fines in 2009 and almost 18,000 in 2013.
Using a cellphone behind the wheel is even more dangerous than driving intoxicated. One study showed that the reaction times of motorists on hand-held devices were 30 percent slower than when they were over the alcohol limit, and their responses were 50 percent slower than those driving with no distractions.
Given these facts, some groups have argued that the fine is too light. The civic association Guadalajara 2020 has pointed out that the fine for being caught using a cellphone is less in Jalisco than in any other Mexican state.