Carteret, NJ – Carteret Police Officers will be cracking down on distracted driving during April as part of New Jersey’s UDrive. UText. UPay. enforcement campaign. The National Safety Council has designated April Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
Beginning April 1 and running through April 21, the high visibility law enforcement initiative will target motorists who engage in dangerous distracted driving behaviors such as talking on hand-held cell phones and sending text messages while driving. Sending or reading a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for 5 seconds, equivalent to driving the length of an entire football field blind.
“Distracted driving is a serious safety issue on our roadways,” said Carteret Police Chief Dennis McFadden. “Over 3,000 people are killed in distracted driving crashes each year and another 400,000 people are injured each year in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.”
In New Jersey, driver inattention was listed as a contributing circumstance in 52% of the state’s crashes in 2015. That’s nine times higher than speed, the second highest contributing factor.
To learn more about the dangers of distracted driving, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website at NHTSA.gov.
