I-80 Challenge: Distracted-Driving Campaign Is On

VALLEJO, CA – In an effort to reduce distracted and reckless driving along Interstate 80, the California Highway Patrol has launched the "I-80 Challenge," a heightened enforcement through the Labor Day weekend from the Bay Area to Nevada and the Utah state line.

The CHP's Golden Gate and Valley Divisions partnered with the Nevada Highway Patrol in the awareness campaign that runs through Monday and coincides with the CHP’s annual Labor Day Maximum Enforcement Period, which began Friday evening.

The CHP and NHP ask motorists to accept the “I-80 Challenge” by promoting awareness and safe driving along the route, and the CHP will increase traffic safety operations to educate and stop drivers who violate traffic laws along the route from San Francisco through Berkeley, Vallejo, Davis, Sacramento, Truckee and Northern Nevada all the way to the Utah border.

“In the wake of the recent loss of one of our officers and the motorist he had contacted on the shoulder of I-80, we are excited to partner with the Nevada Highway Patrol and other Northern California law enforcement agencies and challenge all motorists to drive safely,” said CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley. “We hope to accomplish our goal by educating motorists about the leading causes of traffic collisions and encouraging motorists to follow the rules of the road and drive safely.”

Cell phones are the most frequent form of driver distraction, with an estimated 542,000 passenger vehicles being driven at any given moment by people using handheld cell phones, a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration report said.

The trend is highest among younger drivers, ages 16 to 24, the CHP said, adding that each day in the U.S., approximately nine people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in crashes related to distracted motorists.

A National Safety Council’s report also suggests the number of distracted driving-related collisions and fatalities are vastly under-reported.

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--Image via Renee Schiavone