On Wednesday, September 30, our assistant News Director Pamm Lent told me she wanted me to do several live reports for News Four at Five in front of our Channel 4 studios on busy Elmwood Avenue. She had asked State Police Captain Michael Nigrelli to stand outside the station with me and try to spot drivers talking or texting on their cell phones. I admit, I was a little skeptical. I thought we would be lucky if he spotted one or two. But, Pamm was confident. She has had numerous encounters with distracted drivers as she enters or exits the station parking lot, and she believed it would be a fruitful demonstration.

I have to hand it to her. Within seconds of setting up, Captain Nigrelli began pointing out drivers breezing by talking on their phones. Within half an hour, he had counted more than thirty distracted drivers and, just as we were about to wrap up, we both watched a young female driver pass us as she texted with both hands. As he pointed out while all this was happening, he’s a big guy standing near the street in full police uniform!

It was an eye-opener for us and, I hope, for our viewers to see just how many people are sharing the roads with us…and not giving the roads their full attention. While there is a law against using a hand-held phone behind the wheel, there is currently no federal or state ban against texting. As Captain Nigrelli points out, when a state texting ban takes effect next month it does not allow police to pull over drivers for the sole reason of texting, it would only be treated as a secondary offense.

People often ask where we get ideas for stories that we cover on News Four. Very often, those ideas come right from our own experiences – or, in this case, from Pamm’s!

Assistant News Director Pamm Lent and Photographer Shane Phillips were spotting distracted drivers during our live reports on Elmwood Avenue.

New York State Police Captain Michael Nigrelli pointed out that he's a big guy wearing his full police uniform and yet, dozens of drivers were sailing by us talking on their cell phones!