CHP plans `Zero Tolerance’ crackdown on distracted drivers
California Highway Patrol officers throughout the Inland Empire will be ramping up efforts Thursday to deter motorists from using their mobile phones in a way that puts themselves and other drivers at risk.
The enforcement campaign will be one of several conducted as part of “Distracted Driving Awareness Month,” which the CHP is actively observing in partnership with the California Office of Traffic Safety and Impact Teen Drivers.
“Cell phones are everywhere in our lives,” said CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley. “Tweeting, texting and posting on social media are hard habits to break. However, they have potentially deadly consequences if you are driving. Any use of a cell phone or other distraction while operating a vehicle significantly impairs your driving ability. Changing those dangerous habits will help make our roadways safer for everyone.”
During 2017, close to 22,000 wrecks were the result of distracted driving, according to preliminary CHP data. That figure, however, represents a 30 percent drop compared to 2007, when more than 33,000 accidents occurred due to a motorist’s inattention, the CHP reported.
Officials credited the decline to two laws passed by the Legislature in 2008 that established penalties for drivers caught texting while driving or using mobile phones without hands-free devices.
“California’s distracted driving laws have been saving lives for a decade now,” said former state Sen. Joe Simitian, who authored the laws.“However, there’s more work to be done. Public education, meaningful penalties and rigorous enforcement are all essential. Most importantly, all of us who are out on the road have to remember — it can wait.”
The CHP last year issued roughly 97,000 citations for alleged violations of the handheld cell phone law. In 2009, the first full year in which the law was in effect, 148,000 citations were issued, according to the agency.
Officials noted that teen drivers are among the worst offenders.
On Thursday, officers from the Riverside, Beaumont, Blythe, Indio and Temecula CHP stations will be on inland freeways, highways and unincorporated roads, looking to snare scofflaws as part of the crackdown on distracted drivers.
Another “zero tolerance” enforcement campaign is planned on April 13. Additionally, the OTS and Impact Teen Drivers will be hosting educational events tied to Distracted Driving Awareness Month in various locations.
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