MACON — The Bibb County Sheriff's office says its grace period for Georgia's hands-free driving law is over.
Each deputy in Bibb County can now issue citations if they catch you using a cell phone while driving.
It's been a month since the hands-free law took effect across the state and people like Arthield Trice says he thinks the law is working.
" I see less people texting since the law came out; I have not seen anyone," Trice said.
But Trice admits even though he has seen fewer people using their phones while driving, he is still trying to break the illegal habit.
"I'm not perfect myself, I slip here and there since they passed the law," Trice said.
Trice is not one of the 961 people statewide who were issued a citation in July by the Georgia State Patrol for breaking the new law. That doesn't include tickets issued by Georgia's 159 county sheriffs or by dozens of other agencies.
Here in Bibb County, Captain Brad Wolfe says his deputies have issued their fair share of tickets.
"We have issued eight citations with the new hands-free law including texting while driving and probably three times that many warnings," Wolfe said.
The Bibb County's Sheriff's office says they've issued about 30 warnings mostly for texting while driving, and he credits his deputies on keeping that number low.
"Between the governor's office of highway safety, the local news channels and we kind of partnered together and did several interviews about it," he said.
State Patrol says their citations include 65 for folks texting behind the wheel, using email or being on social media, and Trice says overall he knows some people may still use their phones and drive, but says the new law is a move in the right direction.
"Not to say they have stopped, I'm sure they haven't, but that shows me right there they have slowed down on doing it," Trice said.
If you get a ticket for breaking the law the fee is $50 and a point on your license for the first offense, and if you get pulled over again the price and points increase.