Pennsylvania's ban on texting behind the wheel was a good start toward ending the dangerous practice.

But it's clear more needs to be done -- particularly now that we've seen the new law in effect for the past five weeks.

Police are finding it extremely difficult to enforce the texting ban, mainly because of exceptions to the law that make it difficult for officers to determine if drivers actually are in violation or if they're legally using their cellphones.

Across Pennsylvania, the state police reported just 31 citations for texting and driving since the law took effect March 8.

Only one local department contacted by The York Dispatch reported issuing a citation -- and in that case it was because the driver, originally suspected of being drunk because of his erratic driving, acknowledged checking Facebook.

Short of a confession, it's simply hard to prove drivers are breaking the law.

While it prohibits texting or reading texts, the law does not ban drivers from using hand-held cellphones and they're still free to look up phone numbers on their phones.

Since the law doesn't allow officers to seize cellphones or other hands-free devices to see if the driver is or isn't sending or reading a text, drivers can simply claim they were talking on their phone or looking up a number.

"There are a lot of challenges for a patrol officer to tell if a driver is actually texting," Northern York County Regional Police Chief Mark Bentzel told the Dispatch.

A spokesman for a local department said officers on patrol are reporting fewer drivers appear to be texting, so the law might be having its intended effect regardless of enforcement problems.

Or drivers might be getting more savvy about hiding their texting, as one local officer suggested.

One sure way to correct the law and make Pennsylvania's roads even safer is to pair it with a ban on hand-held cellphones for drivers.

Ten other states -- including all of our neighbors except Ohio -- already have done that. Chances are good many Pennsylvania drivers are familiar with such bans if they cross our boarders with any regularity.

And they managed to survive a short time without their cellphones.

Considering our legislators already have taken the first step toward addressing the problem, it's puzzling why they don't take the obvious next one.