Crime & Safety
Orland Park PD To Observe Distracted Driving Month: April
Heightened enforcement of hands-free law in April - National Districted Driving Month
ORLAND PARK, IL (March 28, 2019) - April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and the Orland Park Police Department is partnering with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Illinois State Police, and more than 100 local law enforcement agencies throughout the state to remind drivers to drop their phones or pay up.
Motorists will see increased patrols and enforcement zones across Illinois throughout the month. Orland Park police will be ticketing drivers who text or use their cellphones while driving.
“Distracted driving has become one of the leading causes of crashes,” said Orland Park Village Trustee Pat Gira, chair of the village’s Public Safety Committee. “No message or phone call is worth jeopardizing your safety. Pull over and park to use your phone.”
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Over the past decade, distracted driving has become one of the leading causes of vehicle crashes on our roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, 3,166 people died in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2017. While this represents a nine-percent decrease in distracted driving fatalities from 2016, there is clearly more work to be done.
“The Orland Park Police Department was one of the leading agencies in the State of Illinois writing more than 2500 tickets for distracted driving in 2018,” said Police Chief Tim McCarthy. “We’re looking forward to writing even more if that’s what it takes to save lives and enhance traffic safety in Orland Park.”
Find out what's happening in Orland Parkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Texting while driving distracts a driver visually, manually and cognitively. Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent of driving blind at 55 miles per hour for the length of an entire football field.
Motorists are encouraged to pull over and park if expecting a text message or if they need to send one. Designate your passenger as your designated texter giving them access to your phone to respond to calls or messages. Never engage in social media scrolling or messaging while driving. Cellphone use is habit forming. Put your cell phone in the trunk, glove box or back seat until you arrive at your destination.
The Distracted Driving Campaign is supported through federal funds administered by IDOT.
