Crime & Safety

Manalapan Police Launch Distracted Driving Campaign In April

Beginning April 1 - April 21, Manalapan police will be specifically looking for drivers talking on cell phones or sending text messages.

MANALAPAN, NJ — Manalapan Township police officers will be cracking down on distracted drivers in the month of April as part of New Jersey’s UDrive. UText. UPay enforcement campaign.

Beginning April 1 and running through April 21, high-visibility law enforcement patrols will be out on the roads, specifically looking for drivers who talk on hand-held cell phones and send text messages while driving.

“Distracted driving is possibly the most serious safety issue on our roadways today,” said Eric Heitmann, Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed in distracted driving crashes and an estimated 391,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver.”

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In New Jersey, driver inattention was listed as a contributing circumstance in 52 percent of the state’s crashes in 2015. Driver inattention was in fact listed as a contributing factor in crashes at a rate nine times higher than that of the next highest contributing factor (speed).

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