Crime & Safety
Distracted Driving Emphasis Begins In King County Thursday
Police departments from Shoreline to Enumclaw will be participating in a three-week effort to crack down on distracted drivers.
LAKE FOREST PARK, WA — For the love of Ichiro Suzuki, please don't text and drive — or eat and drive, or read and drive, or any other activity that distracts you from what's in front of you on the road.
If you do, the chance of getting a hefty fine will go up starting Thursday. Police departments across King County — including Washington State Patrol, which patrols local highways — will begin a distracted-driving emphasis. The emphasis will end April 14.
Some participating departments include: Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Redmond, Seattle, Sammamish, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Issaquah, Enumclaw, and Bellevue.
Find out what's happening in Shoreline-Lake Forest Parkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
>>>Read about Washington's new distracted driving law
Washington had 154 distracted-driving deaths in 2016, the latest year the data was available. The good news: the Washington Traffic Safety Commission says distracted driving rates have dropped from 10.2 to 7 percent in King County.
Find out what's happening in Shoreline-Lake Forest Parkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
If you're among the 7 percent of people who insist on driving distracted, you're looking at a $136 fine for the first offense, $234 for the second.
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