Submitted by Aiken Jacobsen on
We recently posted about the fact that the California authorities have significantly increased the amount of driving fines and citations issued in recent years. Some motorists believe that the increase is just an attempt to raise revenue because of tight local and state budgets.
But the California Highway Patrol insists that they only want to enforce traffic laws and prevent car accidents. Lately, their biggest source of revenue has also been their biggest target: distracted drivers on cell phones.
At the beginning of April, the California Highway Patrol and local police departments conducted a two-day crackdown on distracted driving statewide. Their goal was to reduce cell phone use behind the wheel.
The campaign was a success, at least in terms of number of distracted drivers who were caught. In the Sacramento area, authorities issued 220 citations to drivers caught talking on their cell phones. In that same two-day period, there were also 12 citations for texting while driving, and another 12 for other various traffic violations.
California's ban on cell-phone use while driving went into effect in July of 2008. Since that time, violations involving cell phones have accounted for nearly two-thirds of the increase in citations.
We have posted many times about the dangers of distracted driving. It continues to be one of the most common and most dangerous behaviors for drivers in the United States. It also results in thousands of injuries and deaths per year.
Therefore, while the extra revenue is nice, CHP and local police departments have a better reason to crack down on distracted driving: It saves lives.
Source: The Sacramento Bee online, "220 drivers ticketed in cellphone crackdown," Bill Lindelof, 08 April 2011
