WTF! COPS ISSUED 7,432 TICKETS TO NEW YORKERS IN A 24 HOUR CELL CRACKDOWN!

New Yorkers are using their cars for a lot more than driving. Cops issued 7,432 tickets during this week's 24-hour crackdown on drivers caught yakking or texting on their cells while behind the wheel.

"I bought an earpiece this week - just in time, it turns out," said 42-year-old motorist DelRay Smith as he watched a cop pull over a driver on the West Side Highway Thursday night.

Getting caught with your hands on a cell instead of the wheel now costs $130, up from $120 just six months ago. Taxi drivers are held to an even higher standard. They can receive a $200 summons for using even a hands-free phone while driving.

The blitz marked a dramatic increase over the 580 phoning-while-driving tickets the NYPD issues on an average day.

A recent University of Utah study found that motorists who talk on cell phones - even using hands-free devices - are as impaired as drunken drivers.

The crackdown, which ended at 12:0l a.m. Friday, brought in fewer tickets than the 8,797 issued during a similar sting in March.