Meriden Police to Continue Crackdown on Distracted Driving

Put down that cellphone. Meriden Police will have another round of strict enforcement of distracted driving laws.

The campaign will run from August 3 to August 16 and will be the second campaign this year to crackdown on distracted driving.

About 16,000 citations were handed out in April across the state for distracted driving, according to Meriden Police. That is four times more than any other month that had a distracted driving campaign in the past three years.

“We’re making gains”, said Lieutenant Thomas Cossette. “Considering the seriousness of this problem and the fact that we saw movement in the right direction is a sign we need to continue to this program.”

A recent survey found that there was an eight percent drop in mobile phone use by drivers at observation locations through municipalities where police conducted enforcement.

More from police:

The Department of Transportation had announced in April that the results of recent research found an estimated 11.1 million of occurrences of distracted driving happen each day throughout the state of Connecticut. According to the findings, in total, it is estimated that 9.6% of drivers were either texting or talking on a hands free device.

“When you consider how long sending or reading a text takes, the amount of time a driver’s eyes are off the road and how many people are engaging in this activity at any given time; it adds perspective to how many crashes happen and lives get impacted by this behavior” Cossette continued. “Unfortunately, the fear of a getting a ticket is the only incentive for people to change their behavior”, Cossette said. “Everyone thinks they can do it, that a crash won’t happen to them. Unfortunately, we see it every day and it can and does happen”.

Under Connecticut’s cell phone and texting law, violations involve heavy fines, ranging from $150 for a first offense, $300 for a second violation, and $500 for each subsequent violation. In 2013, 3,154 people were killed and an estimated additional 424,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.

According to a 2014 special article in the New England Journal of Medicine, the risk of a crash or near-crash among novice drivers increased with the performance of many secondary tasks, including texting and dialing cell phones. Connecticut remains the only state in the nation to receive special distracted driving prevention funds – the same funds that allow for special patrols to identify, stop and cite drivers who choose to ignore distracted driving laws.

Over $4.6 million dollars has been awarded to the state over the last two years specifically – to fund campaigns like this one. Connecticut qualifies for this federal funding source through a mix of tough laws – and, a proven track record in strong enforcement of distracted driving laws.
“We’re going to keep doing this until people get the message” Cossette said.