Arcadia PD Cracks Down on Distracted Driving

Driving and get the urge to send a text? Put that phone down. Now.

In honor of National Distracted Driver Awareness month, the Arcadia Police Department has launched a crackdown on drivers who make phone calls and text while behind the wheel.

The police department will have particularly heavy patrols on April 16.

“We all know that talking on our cell phones while driving is distracting, but that doesn’t stop some people from continuing to do it,” Arcadia Police Chief Robert Guthrie said. “We hope that once people see the statistics and realize the danger involved, they will change their driving habits to help protect themselves, their families, and others on the road.”

Getting a ticket for texting or calling while driving can set you back $159 for a first offense, with subsequent tickets costing at least $279.

But more importantly, drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves, and studies show that texting while driving can delay a driver’s reaction time just as severely as having a blood alcohol content of a legally drunk driver.

Distracted driving is just not worth it.