California Distracted Driving Awareness Month April 2012
April is distracted driving month. The Redding Police Traffic Unit will be working in partnership with the California Highway patrol conducting joint enforcement details specifically targeting distracted drivers.
“Distraction” is a specific type of inattention that occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving task to focus on some other activity instead. The No. 1 source of driver inattention is use of a wireless device. Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent. Using a cell phone while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent which could result in a DUI arrest.
Law enforcement is increasingly cracking down on cell phone use and texting while driving. During April 2012, more than 225 local law enforcement agencies will be conducting “zero tolerance” enforcement mobilizations as part of California’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The fine for a first time texting or hand-held cell phone violation is $155, with subsequent tickets costing double, triple, etc.
The existing law went into effect July 1, 2008. It is an infraction for any person to drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone, unless that telephone is designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking operation, and is used in that manner while driving. This law prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read a text-based communication.
WHAT CONSTITUTES A VIOLATION?
There have been many questions as to what constitutes a violation. In summary.
A person (of any age) holding a cell phone in his/her hand and using the speaker phone, or as is most commonly seen, holding the cell phone to the ear (whether on speaker phone or not), would constitute a violation of 23123(a).
Juveniles are not allowed to use cell phones at all while driving with or without an ear piece, and whether or not on speaker phone.
Persons of any age shall not drive a motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read text-based communication.
“Write, send or read a text-based communication” means using an electronic wireless communications device to manually communicate with any person using a text-based communication, including, but not limited to, communications referred to as a text message, instant message or electronic mail. Scrolling for a name or phone number in a cell phone, or entering a phone number does not constitute texting.
Driver distractions are nothing new. They’ve been a topic of discussion since windshield wipers were introduced in cars during the early 1900s. Using a cellular phone while driving can increase your chances of being involved in a crash. Research also shows other distractions such as eating a sandwich, tending to small children, conversing with a passenger or gazing at objects outside the vehicle occur often and can be just as distracting as talking on a cell phone.
2009 NATIONAL DATA
In 2009, 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways and an estimated 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving.
In 2009, an estimated 2,217,000 people were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes. The number of people injured during a crash with reported distraction in 2009 was estimated at 448,000 – representing 20 percent of injures.
Of those people killed in distracted-driving related crashes, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (5% of injured people in distraction-related crashes). Sixteen percent of fatal crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving.
The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers in 2009 was the under-20 age group – 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. The younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related crashes.
Of those drivers involved in fatal crashes who were reportedly distracted, the 30-to 39-year olds had the highest proportion of cell phone involvement).
The proportion of fatalities reportedly associated with driver distraction increased from 10 percent in 2005 to 16 percent in 2009.
In 2009, 867 fatal crashes were reported to have involved cell phones as distraction (18% of all fatal distracted driving crashes).
Of those drivers reportedly distracted during a fatal crash, the 30- to 39-year old drivers were the group with the greatest proportion distracted by cell phones
Be alert and drive safely.
REDDING POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES GRANT FOR COUNTY-WIDE DUI ENFORCEMENT CAMPAIGN
The primary cause of deaths on our local streets and highways remains Drunk Driving and the ‘Avoid the SIX’ DUI Task Force will keep up with its DUI enforcement in Shasta County as a result of a recent $98,000.00grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to the Redding Police Department. Redding Police Department will administer the grant for the entire county.
“We look forward to once again working with our allied agencies and OTS in an effort to improve public safety. The funding provided by OTS has a direct and positive impact on our community in Shasta County.”, Redding Police Chief Peter Hansen.
The ‘Avoid the SIX DUI Campaign is named to send the message that if you don’t drink and drive, you will avoid getting arrested by any of the SIX participating law enforcement agencies in the county.
The grant activities will specifically target those who drink too much and get behind the wheel. Officers will be staffing DUI/Driver License Checkpoints, multi-agency DUI Task Force deployments, and local DUI saturation patrols for each partnering. Additionally, funding will target the ‘worst of the worst’ repeat DUI offenders with Warrant/Probation Sweeps and Court Sting Enforcement Operations focusing on DUI offenders who leave court hearings and drive away on suspended licenses after being ordered not to drive by a judge.
“The Avoid DUI Task Forces have been an essential part of the phenomenal reduction in DUI deaths on our roadways in the last five years in California,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “Tragically, DUI deaths remain the largest sector, at over 30 percent of traffic fatalities. This grant will help combat that, making Redding and Shasta County a safer place to live and work.”
DUI/Drivers License Checkpoints are a key component of the grant. These highly visible, highly publicized events are meant to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests. Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.
Motorist can expect to see special DUI campaigns during the winter and summer holiday periods as well as on Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo and during local special events with identified DUI Problems. Funding for the grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Agencies participating in the ‘Avoid the Six’ taskforce include:
Redding Police Department
Anderson Police Department
Shasta County Sheriff’s Office
California Highway Patrol
Shasta County Marshal’s Office
Shasta County Probation Department