Police Increase Patrols For Distracted Drivers: WTSC

PIERCE COUNTY, WA - Fourteen law enforcement agencies with a presence in Pierce County will participate in the Washington Traffic Safety Commission's (WTSC) distracted driving campaign between March 28 and April 14. The local agencies will join more than 150 others statewide all scheduling extra patrols for the next couple weeks to crack down on distracted drivers.

Scrolling social media, watching videos, and texting your buddies are all illegal activities while sitting behind the wheel of an operational vehicle — even while stopped in traffic or at a light, according to the new laws. Violators face fines of $136 for the first offense and $234 for the second, according to WTSC officials.

"Washington drivers need to know that if they're on the road, they should be off the phone," WTSC Program Manager Erika Mascorro said in a statement shared Wednesday. "If you're distracted, law enforcement is focused on finding and ticketing you. Fortunately, there are signs that Washington drivers are increasingly taking safety into their own hands, by keeping their hands off their phones."

A WTSC study on distracted driving stats logged between 2016 and 2018 appears to show handheld cell phone use accounted for just more than 40 percent of all distractions from 2017 to 2018, with the overall driver-distraction rate for that year around 8 percent.

Pierce County was reportedly one of just five statewide to show a drop in distracted driving rates, "Starting at 18.4 percent in 2016, declining to 14.4 percent in 2017, and dropping to 5.8 percent in 2018," the WTSC reported.

Only two counties, Spokane and Cowlitz, showed increases over the same period, according to the report.

Incidentally, statewide in 2018 there was an overall increase in drivers engaging in "other distracting behaviors," such as eating, toying with the radio, or dealing with pets or kids, the report shows.

"Drivers can dangerously lose their focus on other activities that shift their focus and full engagement from driving, which the E-DUI law calls 'dangerously distracted,'" Mascorro said. "Any type of distraction increases crash risk. Studies show that it can take nearly 30 seconds to regain your attention on the road after talking on the phone."

Locally, the following law enforcement agencies will participate in the distracted driving campaign:

• Bonney Lake Police Department
• Fife County Police Department
• Fircrest Police Department
• Gig Harbor Police Department
• Lakewood Police Department
• Milton Police Department
• Orting Police Department
• Pierce County Sheriff’s Office
• Puyallup Police Department
• Ruston Police Department
• Sumner Police Department
• Tacoma Police Department
• University Place Police Department
• Washington State Patrol

"The law is easy to follow. If you're on the road, you need to be off the phone — whether driving, stopped at an intersection or in traffic," Mascorro said. "Your only job behind the wheel is to be a safe driver, and that means keeping your eyes and mind on the road and your hands on the wheel."

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