Campaign aims to reduce number of accidents

Published in the April 16-29, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Staff Reports

As part of April’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month campaign, the Morgan Hill Police Department will be joining forces with more than 200 other local law enforcement agencies and the California Highway Patrol in a month long “zero tolerance” enforcement and education campaign to curb those texting or operating hand-held cell phones while driving. Officers will be on alert throughout the month for those who break the cell phone laws.

The increased enforcement and education aims to persuade drivers to recognize the dangers of distracted driving and reduce the number of people impacted by this dangerous behavior. The “It’s Not Worth It!” theme was developed by the Office of Traffic Safety and emphasizes that a phone call or text isn’t worth a costly fine or a deadly collision.

Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. In addition, 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.

According to recent research, sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for about 4.6 seconds. Even a three second glance at freeway speeds means a driver has traveled the distance of a football field.

Research shows that there is no difference in the risks between hands-free and hand-held cell phone conversations, both of which can result in “inattention blindness” which occurs when the brain isn’t seeing what is clearly visible because the drivers’ focus is on the phone conversation and not on the road and surroundings. Parents who engage in distracted driving behaviors more frequently have teens who will do the same. Teen drivers read or send text messages 26 more times than their parents think they do. Texting while driving can increase a driver’s risk of being in a collision by 23 times more than a driver not distracted.

What can you do to become a safer driver? Simple, obey the law and follow these easy driving tips.
• Never text and drive
• Turn off your phone while driving
• Don’t text or call someone you know is driving
• Do not eat or drink while driving
• No grooming or applying makeup while driving
• Pull over to read maps or directions
• Never program your GPS device while driving
• Make a pact with your family or friends to never use the phone with kids in the car

For more information, please contact the Morgan Hill Police Department at (408) 779-2101.