Lawmakers are now questioning all enforcement after New York’s new texting-while-driving ban.

Consequences could be fatal if police officials don’t take action soon, as there are so many distracted drivers currently on the road each day. 50 percent of individuals driving are distracted on the roads. Lawmakers responded a couple of years back by banning texting while driving, but making it a secondary offense rather than a primary offense. Primary offenses allow police to pull over individuals with probable cause. Secondary offenses allow police to only ticket individuals for the offense as long as they’ve been pulled over first for another reason, like speeding.

A review of traffic tickets from the Journal’s Albany bureau shows that those who were ticketed for texting and driving while already being pulled over were only a fraction of the number in comparison to those who were talking on a cell phone without the use of a hands-free device, which is currently a primary offense. The Albany bureau found nearly 332,000 tickets being issued statewide in 2010 for cell phone usage behind the wheel of a car. 3,200 tickets were issued for texting while driving in the first year the law took place.

The new law now states that texting while driving is now considered a primary offense and the fine is now set at $150 and the state will now require a distracted-driving curriculum for those seeking their driver’s license.

A Federal Highway Administration study now shows that drivers who were texting while driving were 23 times more likely to get in a car accident. It also says each year thousands of people are killed in car crashes caused from distracted driving. Young drivers under the age of 20 are at the highest risk for distracted drivers being involved in fatal crashes.