Police Crackdown on Distracted Drivers

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PSA Announcements like this one discouraging the use of texting while driving are nothing new. Tickets for cell phone offenses have gone up in the last three years. Almost half a million tickets were written in California just last year alone.

The LAPD and California Highway Patrol have named April “National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.” Chris Cochran is the Assistant director of the California Office of traffic safety.

“Distracted driving is anything that takes away from the task of driving,” Cochran said. “Anything that keeps your eyes from focusing on the road ahead, your hands on the wheel, or your brain activity utilizing what it needs to have in order to safely operate the motor vehicle.”

The emphasis this month is specifically on talking and texting while driving, but Cochran says officers will be paying attention to much more.

“You’re not going to be ticketed for changing the radio station, or adjusting your rear view mirrors or those type of things,” Cochran said. “You will be ticketed if you’ve got a big sloppy hamburger in your hands and your trying to negotiated the road. You will be ticketed if you’re putting on make-up, or shaving, or reading a book.”

LA drivers are known to be both aggressive and frequently distracted. 22-year-old Mac Pearce says he is no exception.

“I’m just am driving to Vegas constantly and I’ve got these plates of food in my lap and I have to prop the steering wheel against my knee to keep from veering into oncoming traffic,” Pearce said.

“Well, I have a karaoke machine in the back,” LA resident Dave Samic. “Sometimes I sing when I drive on an auto-tune so people in other cars look at me and I’m singing pretty loud on the auto tune and like turning on the speaker”

USC Student Anya Lehr says she is well aware of the damage that can be done from not paying attention.

“I don’t text because of the danger. That’s scary,”” Lehr said. “I have a few times before, and then all that happens is I don’t see that the light changes and people are honking at me.”

Last “Distracted Driving Awareness Month,” over 52,000 people were cited in that one month alone. Traffic Safety spokesman Chris Cochran says he expects even more this year.

If you are caught texting while driving, the first offense will cost you $159. But depending on what else you’re cited for, it could be more. So drivers, beware.