Distracted Driving Awareness Month In La Verne

LA VERNE, CA — April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and San Gabriel Valley law enforcement agencies will have additional officers on patrol looking specifically for drivers who violate California’s hands-free cell phone law.

Distracted driving is dangerous, especially when it involves a cell phone. If you are texting on a cell phone, grooming, using a navigation system or reading while driving, you're driving distracted, the La Verne Police Department said.

Preliminary data from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) says that 66 people were killed and more than 6,500 injured in 2017 from distracted driving-related crashes.

“Cell phones remain one of the top distractions for drivers,” said Newport Beach Police Department Lieutenant Cartwright. “Like any bad habit, it can be hard to break, but this habit can have life-altering consequences.”

A 2018 observational survey by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) on driver cell phone use found about 4.5 percent of drivers are still using their cell phone illegally, a nearly 27 percent increase from 2016.

“That text or phone call will never be worth losing a life over,” said Cartwright. “That is why curbing distracted driving is high on our priority list.”

Under the most recent cell phone law that went into effect in 2017, drivers are prohibited from having a phone in their hand for any reason and can only use their phone in a hands-free manner.

The phones must be mounted on the dashboard, windshield or center console, and can only be touched once with the swipe or tap of a finger to activate or deactivate a function.

First-time offenders face a $162 fine.

If you need to make a call or text someone, pull over and park at a safe location, the NTSB advises.

For some, texting and driving is almost addictive. If you are struggling to stay off the phone while driving, consider putting your phone in a place you can’t reach, like the backseat or trunk.

Funding for distracted driving enforcement operations are provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.