Put Down The Phone: Mercer Island PD Conducting Traffic Emphasis

MERCER ISLAND, WA - You shouldn't be texting while driving. You shouldn't be eating some kind of complicated sandwich while driving. And you really shouldn't be reading a novel while driving (we have actually seen this).

If you insist on doing and of those things, or any other type of distracted driving, you might get a visit from a Mercer Island police officer.

Starting Thursday, local police will begin a distracted driving emphasis with help from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. Through mid-April, Mercer Island police will have extra patrols out to pull over distracted drivers.

"Although we have seen a reduction by up to 40 percent of drivers in Washington holding a cell phone between 2017 and 2018, we still saw 38 fatal and 226 serious injuries crashes in 2018 due to distracted driving," Mercer Island police wrote on Facebook Tuesday.

We really hope you're not reading this while driving. Distracted driving fines start at $136. You can brush up on the state's relatively new distracted driving law here.