According to records obtained from district magistrates in Centre, Cambria, Clearfield and Blair counties, only 37 texting while driving tickets have been written since the law went into affect in March.

Unlike a careless driving citation, in order to write out a texting while driving ticket, officers must determine whether a driver is using a cellphone to make or receive a phone call or if they are using it for just about any other type of communication, such as texting, web browsing or using an app.

Records show that five citations were written in Blair County, six tickets in Clearfield County, 12 citations in Cambria County and 14 in Centre County, many of which resulted in guilty pleas and a fine and court fees of approximately $130.

State College Police Department Traffic Unit Officer Joe Zufatto told 6News that tech-savvy drivers are trying to hide their cellphones below the dashboard line, so officers are teaming up and using elevated vantagepoints like parking garages.

"There are some occasions where, being on the motorcycle, I'm actually only a few feet from the driver. I've watched them literally type, texting in the phone phone, and I can see their screen, that's an easy one, but it's not always that easy," said Zufatto. "We put another officer at a bird's-eye view. They can see down through the vehicle windows, look to see what the motorist is doing.

"If they're manipulating the phone and texting, as that vehicle proceeds down the road, he will radio me the description of the vehicle. I'll be down the road a block or two, and as they go past my location, if they're still manipulating the phone, that is long enough to make a phone call within that time frame. If they're just making or receiving a phone call, that only takes a matter of seconds. Then that would give me cause to pull that vehicle over and do a further investigation."

Duncansville Borough Police Chief James Ott told 6News that the texting while driving law is difficult to enforce for smaller departments.

"I think when they wrote the law, I think it was a valiant effort," said Ott. "But I think they should have taken it a step further and eliminated use of all cellphones."