VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Washington's hands-free cell phone law went into effect July 1st and KGW wanted to know if drivers were obeying the new rules.

KGW photo

Washington State Trooper Dave Bourland talks to a driver caught with a cell phone held up to their ear.

"I think that most people will follow it," said Arley Lewis of Vancouver.

Newschannel 8 rode along with the Washington State Patrol to see if that was true.

Turns out, even with the law, several people were spotted holding a cell phone up to their ear while driving.

While the hands free law applies to everyone, Washington state troopers say not everyone obeys it all the time.

"Alright, let's go do it,” said state trooper Dave Bourland with Washington State Patrol as he got into his patrol car looking for offenses. "In Clark County here through the month of July so far, we've had18 violations of the hands-free law and 11 tickets.”

Within minutes, Bourland pulled over a Honda driving northbound on Interstate-5.

"She apologized about using a cell phone. She knows it’s against the law, she said she was late for work," he said.

Because troopers can't pull someone over for simply holding a cell phone to their ear, this driver was actually pulled over for a defective windshield and given a warning about the cell phone.

It appeared that, for the most part, drivers were getting the message on the state's new "hands-free" cell phone law, Bourland said.

"I think it's a good safety factor," said Vancouver resident Bill Lewis. And so does the Washington State Patrol.

In the first two weeks alone, Washington State Troopers stopped 300 drivers and issued 113 tickets.

The statistics showed that more tickets were issued in southeast and south central Washington than anywhere else.

The base fine for using a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving is $124.00.