FOLEY — With a statewide texting while driving ban now in place, South Baldwin law-enforcement officials are striving to enforce it.

However, Elberta Police Chief Stan DeVane said doing so will be a challenge.

“It’s going to be difficult to enforce,” he said in a phone interview.

But Foley Police Chief David Wilson said his officers have received training on what to keep an eye out for.

“We will be on the lookout for drivers during our patrols that are engaging in this type of activity (texting while driving),” he said via email. “You can generally differentiate if someone is texting or placing a phone call by observing them for a few moments. If it appears that the driver is violating this new law, they will be pulled over and given a citation.”

That citation will cost $25 for the first offense and $50 for a second time. A person caught three or more times faces a $75 fine.

According to the law, which state legislators passed in May, law-enforcement officers don’t have to wait until they see another violation before pulling texting offenders over.

“Law enforcement officers enforcing this ... may treat a violation ... as the primary or sole reason for issuing a citation to a driver,” the law states.

However, DeVane said that because the law is so new, those driving in Elberta will be given time to get accustomed to the change.

“The first time we pull them over, we’ll give them a verbal warning,” the Elberta Police chief said.

But, he did point out that Elberta residents should already be used to refraining from mobile-device use while driving.

“Elberta has had a texting ordinance ever since I came here in February,” DeVane said.

Nonetheless, he and fellow members of the Alabama Association of Police Chiefs spent a portion of last week’s conference in Gulf Shores addressing the new state law and how to enforce it.

That law comes on the heels of increased accidents caused by what AA classifies as “distracted driving.”

“Distracted driving, including the use of wireless devices such as cell phones, contributes to between 4,000 and 8,000 crashes every day in the United States,” a statement on the AAA website reads. “In a year, they contribute to as many as one-half of the 6 million U.S. crashes reported annually.”

Wilson explained that South Baldwin’s enforcement of the new state law is intended to cut down on such accidents.

“Texting while driving and other forms of distracted driving aren't limited to Foley, they are a nationwide problem,” he said. “You can see it going on all around you on the roadways. This has prompted our state and many other states to pass similar laws to help curtail the problem and hopefully reduce the number of accidents and deaths on our roadways.”