Fairfax County Police Focusing on Distracted Driving

The Fairfax County Police Department is beginning a year-long initiative to cut down on distracted driving, an increasing trend that has been linked to 80% of traffic accidents. While texting has become more prominent, it is still just one of many behaviors drivers exhibit that take their focus off the road.

"Texting has been singled out as an individual problem, but driver inattention for all these other reasons is just as big a problem," said Capt. Susan Culin, referring to activities such as eating and personal grooming.

Culin, Commander of the Traffic Safety Division of FCPD, says the program will initially be led by the 32 officers assigned to the motor squad, but will expand to more than 900 patrol officers. The officers will be trained in spotting indicative behavior such as erratic acceleration and braking, weaving, and hesitating when lights turn green.

While it might seem easy to lay much of the blame regarding texting on teen drivers, Culin believes otherwise.

"Adults are right there with kids regarding texting. Not only are they participating in it, but they're setting a bad example for kids in the car with them," Cullin said.

Police will focus on locations with historically high crash rates throughout Fairfax County, as well as other points of interest.

"Every district has locations that have the highest number of crashes. Those are areas that we're going to be focused on," said Cullin. "But also around high schools, because kids come out of school and the first thing they do is pick up their cell phone and talk while they're driving," she added.

Texting while driving is already illegal in Virginia, but has been hard to distinguish from actions such as dialing a number, which is not illegal. The result is that many officers use the vaguer "failure to pay full time and attention" citation, which carries a $30 fine and can be applied to other distraction-inducing behaviors.

Culin would like to see more specific legislation related not just to texting while driving, but talking on cell phones, in any capacity, as well.

"Even if you go hands free, your concentration is on the conversation that you're having, and not on your driving," said Culin. "Study after study shows that your reaction time is reduced [when on the phone]."

Currently, 30 states have laws against texting while driving, but only eight have banned using a handheld cell phone. No state has a law against using a hands-free device, although 28 states, as well as Washington, D.C., have made any cell phone use illegal for "novice drivers," typically those under the age of 18.

Culin recognizes that like other illegal driving behaviors, a new law and an increased police monitoring is just a small step toward changing the prevailing attitude many drivers have.

"We're just looking to chip away at it. We realize it's really become the cultural norm. It's going to take a lot to change what's become normal behavior to some people," said Culin.

While the initiative is set to run through June 2011, Culin added that the push does not stop there.

"Just like aggressive driving and drunk driving, we have to always stay vigilant," said Culin.