Bathurst police are cracking down on motorists using hand-held devices while they drive.

It's been several months since the provincial distracted driver legislation came into effect, but police are still catching several drivers breaking the law, said Const. Jeff Gauthier.

A total of 64 drivers have been caught in the city since the province-wide ban kicked off in June, he said.

The penalty is a fine of $172.50 and three demerit points off the driver's licence, but it doesn't seem to be deterring people.

"A lot of the times people will see us, they'll notice us at the last second and then they'll either drop the phone or they'll try to shrug it off as if it was nothing to us," said Gauthier. "In either case, it's still an offence."

There is the option to fight the ticket in court. In Bathurst, only one person has tried to fight a ticket — unsuccessfully.

Gauthier said drivers always have an excuse for why they have been on their cellphone.

"There's always an excuse for that type of thing. People seem to think that it's alright if it was a wrong number, if the hospital calls, if their parents calls, if there's something with the kids," he said.

"That's all fine. We understand that there are emergencies in life, however you're simply going to have to pull over when that happens if you need to speak on the phone."

Some Bathurst residents told CBC News they wonder why so many people still refuse to follow the law after several months of it being in place.

"I see people often and it sometimes just makes me want to scream 'put that down' because ... there are so many other distractions. It's terrible," Pat Macintosh said.

"I don't smoke, I don't drink, so I'm a good person when I drive," said driver Kim Donnelly.