Article Source: San Bruno Police - CA
SAN BRUNO POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASE
April 11, 2018
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SAN BRUNO PD JOINS NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO END DISTRACTED DRIVING
San Bruno, CA– Distracted driving is such an important safety issue that April is recognized as National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. In California, Police, Sheriff and CHP officials are joining the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as well as law enforcement throughout the country, working together to focus on education as well as enforcement.
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The purpose of this campaign is to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving in an attempt to change behavior and save lives, not just in April but also year-round. The San Bruno Police Department will step-up enforcement all month long, and will join a statewide “zero tolerance day” on April 13th, when all agencies will be especially vigilant for distracted drivers. Although the purpose of the campaign is not to write as many citations as possible, sometimes citations are necessary for drivers to understand the importance of focusing on their driving.
Distracted driving continues to be a problem, especially as the use of Smartphones increase. According to NHTSA data, which was collected from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, 3,450 lives were lost as a result of distracted driving in 2016, which is almost 11 percent of all crash fatalities. Each day in the United States, approximately 9 people are killed and more than 1,000 injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver.
“Major factors of highway crashes are distractions,” said NTSB Chairman Robert
Sumwalt. Chairman Sumwalt also prefaced that drivers need to “Keep their hands on the wheel, their eyes on the road, and their mind focused on the driving task. “Distractions kill, disconnect from deadly distractions.”
The problem of distracted driving is significant, and no surprise to drivers day in and day out. The Department of Transportation notes that at any given moment, during daylight hours, more than 660,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cellphone.
WHAT IS DISTRACTED DRIVING?
Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety. These types of distractions include:
- Texting
- Using a cellphone or smartphone
- Eating and drinking
- Talking to passengers
- Grooming
- Reading, including maps
- Using a navigation system
- Watching a video
- Adjusting a radio, CD player, or MP3 player
But, because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarming distraction.
The San Bruno Police Department reminds everyone that the best way to end distracted driving is to educate all Americans about the danger it poses.
CONTACT PERSON: Sergeant Mike Blundell – San Bruno PD Traffic Division
mblundell@sanbruno.ca.gov / (650) 616-7128
1177 Huntington Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066-1500
Voice: (650) 616-7100 • Fax: (650) 871-6734
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Robert Riechel
E=Mail: SanBrunoPatch.Robert@Yahoo.com
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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives
Source Credit: City of San Bruno CA Police Department
