Tickets for texting or talking on a cell phone while driving more than tripled in the region, including Franklin and Benton counties, after a tougher law took effect a year ago.

The Washington State Patrol announced Wednesday that drivers in the seven counties of its District 3 amassed 636 tickets for talking or texting on their phones, compared with 183 in the same 11 months the year before.

The district includes Franklin, Benton, Yakima, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties.

Statewide, the effects of the law have been even more dramatic.

Five times as many tickets were issued -- 6,850 -- from June 10, 2010, right after the law started, through May 15. That compares with 1,344 during the same time the previous year.

The new law made handheld cellphone required grounds for being pulled over and ticketed. Previously, a trooper could make a traffic stop only after seeing another driving offense, such as speeding or having expired license plate tags.

Even with the change, troopers have some discretion and generally cite about half of the drivers they stop, except for drunken drivers, who are cited every time, state patrol spokesman Robert Calkins told The Seattle Times.

Troopers used to see drivers flagrantly disregarding the old law, Calkins said.

"They'd see someone talking on their cellphone, and the person would look right at them and drive on. So we heard from a lot of our own troopers that this needed to become a primary (offense) because it was being flouted," he said.

Drivers must be visibly holding a phone to their ear to be stopped for a violation, said Lt. Terry Liebrecht, who oversees troopers who patrol Sunnyside, Yakima and Prosser.

"The primary concern is to reduce the number of times we have to make a next of kin notification," he said.

The law also is helpful for deciding what role cellphones play in nonfatal crashes, which largely are underreported by drivers, Calkins said.

Handheld cellphone use is banned in nine states nationwide, while texting while driving is banned in 33 states.

New Washington drivers with intermediate licenses are prohibited from using cell phones while driving at all.

The law exempts people using a phone to report an illegal activity, tow trucks responding to a call and hands-free devices.