From The Press of Atlantic City — Jared Barnett was doing his mother a favor, volunteering to pick up his sister in Atlantic City, when he made the mistake of using his cell phone while driving mere inches past several Atlantic City police officers.

Lt. Ron Krause, of the Atlantic City Traffic Unit, immediately waved him to the side of the road on Atlantic Avenue.

Barnett, who was visiting from Pennsylvania, said he was unaware it was against the law in New Jersey to drive and talk on a cell phone without a hands-free device. He was just making a quick trip to help his mother, he said, and doesn’t even drive that often. It wasn’t even his car.

He promised not to let it happen again. He got a $130 ticket anyway.

Excuse after excuse followed as city police, who were patrolling the intersection of Atlantic and Michigan avenues Saturday for aggressive driving violations, pulled over cell phone offenders. In the course of one hour, five drivers – all of whom seemed oblivious to the eight officers and police vehicles surrounding them – received summonses for driving and talking on the phone.

On March 1, New Jersey joined New York, Connecticut and the District of Columbia in making driving while talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device a primary offense. That means police don’t need another reason – such as speeding – to pull someone over. California will follow suit today and Pennsylvania also is considering cell phone legislation.

“We could go out there any particular morning and see a half-dozen people driving and talking on cell phones,” Krause said. Bicycle officers, Krause said, often pull up alongside motorists who continue to carry on conversations on their cell phones.

“We’ll have to ask them to hang up,” Krause said.

Ignorance of the law, particularly on the part of out-of-state residents, seems to be the top reason given by those who get caught.

Still, a recent survey of drivers’ attitudes and behavior conducted by the state in partnership with Fairleigh Dickinson University showed that 91 percent of New Jersey residents know there is a cell phone law in place. About 88 percent of residents support the law, according to the poll.

But not all practice what they report. Ticketing for talking and driving has soared since the violation became a primary offense – from 1,500 to 13,000 per month statewide since March 1, according to New Jersey’s Division of Highway Traffic Safety. That equals an extra $4 million in revenue.

“We have this ridiculous mindset, that we can do it, but everybody else can’t,” said Pam Fischer, director of New Jersey’s Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “We all think we’re OK. We can manage it. It’s everybody else that has the problem.”

The state Administrative Office of the Courts can’t easily determine which towns are ticketing the most for cell phone use because of how records are kept. Locally, Galloway Township Police have issued 59 tickets since the law went into effect in March, according to Sgt. Kevin Mott. Offenders, for the most part, take getting pulled over pretty well, he said.

“But according to most of the traffic officers, there is no noticeable swing in compliance due to the enforcement,” Mott said.

Egg Harbor City police spent the past two weeks conducting patrols along the White Horse Pike tarketing aggressive drivers – including those talking on cell phones – thanks to funding from a federal grant program.

“Just looking at my forms that are turned in, we have 14 (cell phone tickets) in the last 10 days,” said Officer Michael Luko of the Egg Harbor City Police Department. “We pull people over that are still on the phone when we pull them over. So, it’s still being disregarded.”

Officer Herbert Simons, traffic safety coordinator for the Pleasantville Police Department, said he typically sees drivers riding with a cell phone in hand, talking to someone on speakerphone – and thinking that is OK.

“They’re still driving with a cell phone in hand,” Simons said. “Some people will tell you, ‘I’ll get a bluetooth later.’ People think the police have better things to do and are not going to pull people over for cell phones.”

In Pleasantville, about 15 tickets were issued last week for driving and talking on a cell phone, Simon said – 30 including drivers who were pulled over for something else first, such as a seatbelt violation.

Pleasantville received a grant under the Aggressive Driver Campaign, which allows police to focus efforts on aggressive driving five hours per day for 26 weeks. Simon said that funding has yielded results.

“We’re up over, close to 500 tickets, as opposed to last year,” Simons said. “Just hang up and drive.”

E-mail Regina Schaffer:

RSchaffer@pressofac.com