Distracted driving on the rise again in Calgary

Calgary drivers appear to be getting more creative when it comes to distracted driving.

Police say there was a good level of compliance when Alberta's new distracted driving legislation went into effect on Sept. 1, 2011.

"When itfirst came out it was new and we hammered the message out and that type of thing and everybody was pretty compliant. They were making a conscious effort. I think people have gone back a little bit and said, 'Well I need my phone for this, or I need to do that,'" said Const. Jim Lebedeff on Thursday.

"One of the big things we notice now is people have their phones on speaker and they'll be holding it. So they think they're not actually texting or using it, they're just holding out there and they're talking well you can't do that."

Calgary police wrote 4,688 tickets for distracted driving between Oct. 1, 2011, and July 31, 2012.

About 900 of those were handed out during the first month.

The rate has risen steadily in each subsequent month.