More than 7,800 Illinois drivers illegally texted or talked while driving in 2010.
So far this year, Illinois State police have reported pulling over nearly 8,000 motorist for driving while texting or talking on their cell phones.
In January, Illinois joined 30 other states and passed two new laws banning the use of cell phone's while driving in construction and school zones. The stops led to 4,236 citations and 2,629 warnings from talking on the hand held device while driving through the zones.
Over the same period, state police said 929 citations were issued for texting, according to the Chicago Tribune.
It's estimated that nearly 1.6 million accidents a year are caused by texting drivers, according to the National Safety Council. With such high numbers, why do so many people continue to drive while texting?
