Distracted Driving Enforcement and Education Campaign to be Carried out locally as part of new National Distracted Driving Enforcement Campaign April 1 – April 21, 2014

 Law enforcement officers from the Newton Police Department will be cracking down on distracted drivers as part of a new national distracted driving enforcement campaign. 

Beginning April 1, 2014 and running through April 21, 2014, the high visibility law enforcement initiative will target motorist who engage in dangerous distracted driving behaviors such as talking on hand-held cell phones and sending text messages while driving.

The slogan of the national campaign is UDrive.  UText.  UPay. 

 “Distracted driving is a serious issue on our roadways,” said Gary Poedubicky, Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety.  “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that each year thousands of people are killed in distracted driving related crashes and nearly a half million people are injured.”

Despite the fact that using a hand-held cell phone or texting while driving is illegal in New Jersey, the practice appears to be widespread.  In a 2013 survey conducted by the FDU PublicMind Poll for the Division of Highway Traffic Safety, 72% of respondents said they “very often” see people driving and talking on a hand-held cell phone.  40% of respondents said they “very often” see driver’s texting.

The campaign is being carried out during the month of April, which is National Distracted Driving Month.  The campaign is modeled after similar successful high visibility enforcement campaigns such as Click It or Ticket and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.