Canton Police Announce Distracted Driving Campaign

Information via Canton Police Department

CANTON, CT — The Canton Police Department is once again participating in the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s high visibility distracted driving enforcement campaign, which will run from October 15th to October 31st, 2021.

Distracted driving is an activity that diverts attention from driving. Not surprisingly, texting while driving is one of the most dangerous distractions. Sending or reading a text takes one’s eyes off the road for 5 seconds and at 55 m.p.h., that is like driving the entire length of a football field with your eyes closed. Additionally, according to the NHTSA driving a vehicle while texting is six times more dangerous than intoxicated driving.

The Canton Police urge you to put your phone down when you get behind the wheel. Should you need to use your phone prior to reaching your destination, please pull over to a safe location first.

We hope that these increased enforcement efforts will reduce the number of motorists driving while distracted, thus lowering the number and severity of crashes in Canton.

As of October 1, 2021 the fines for distracted driving increased. The first offense will incur a $200 fine, the second offense is $375 and the third offense is $625.

Drive Safe!