East Lansing and Michigan State University police spent Monday trying to make the roads safer with an undercover operation, targeting distracted drivers.
With cameras rolling, undercover officers followed cars swerving through traffic. The drivers were supposed to be focusing on the road but officers filmed them texting on their phones.
Unmarked cars are patrolling East Lansing's busiest's streets, radioing for flashing lights when they catch drivers texting.
"We did write you a ticket today for texting and driving," Lt. Scott Wriggeslworth told a driver who was caught using her phone.
That driver told police she was using her phone as a GPS, but since it was in her hand and not docked she got a ticket.
"It's as big a distraction, maybe even a bigger distraction than texting and driving because it's constantly giving you updates," said Lt. Scott Wriggeslworth with the East Lansing Police Department.
Riding along during the operation, officers showed News 10 how easy it is to spot who's distracted.
Lt. Wriggeslworth says they're looking for drivers who are reading, typing or sending text messages; or using an un-docked phone as a GPS.
"Focusing on their phone leads to red light violations, speeding, no turn on red and that kind of stuff. So one typically leads to the other and sometimes that leads to tragic consequences," Wriggeslworth added.
Since a ticket only goes so far police are teaming up with Cellular and More Verizon Wireless. Drivers who get pulled over are also getting a discount for safety accessories at the store. If the driver is using their phone as a GPS they'll get a voucher to pay cost plus 10 percent for a dock.
"I personally use this bluetooth," said Brian Gascoyne, a sales associate at Cellular and More. "It's hands-free so you're not texting and driving. I can just hit this button right here, basically say call mom, call home, call work."
It's an incentive drivers like Ashwin Gopalakrishnan hope will get more people off their phones.
"You have a lot of pedestrians who don't look when they're walking around and if you're not looking you could end up hurting someone or yourself," he said.
Officers say this enforcement is working. On Monday they ticketed 5 drivers, less than half compared to their last crackdown.
Cellular and More is working with police by offering 20 percent off all safety accessories through March 15th.
