What Distracted Driving Awareness Month Meant in Practice
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- By Greggory Moore Follow @greggory_moore
- | Sunday, 05 June 2011 18:08
This photo, taken on June 2 by the author, is said by the author to depict a driver who is texting while driving down Ocean Boulevard.
9:45am | As you might have heard (here, for example), April was Distracted Driving Awareness Month, a statewide campaign by over 200 state agencies and 100 California Highway Patrol area commands to combat the bane of driving while using a handheld communication device (like that snazzy iPhone you waited in line to get even though when it came out it was more expensive and had more bugs than it ever would) through a combination of concentrated enforcement and focused public-relations work.
The Long Beach Police Department
took part. How? Sgt. Rico Fernandez, a department spokesman, says primarily by way of
"two days of focused distracted driving enforcement operations,"
those days being April 6 and 27, during which the LBPD wrote 171 citations
for using a cell phone while driving and 4 for texting while driving.
For the entire month, the LBPD
handed out 1,237 cell-phone citations and 59 for texting.
How does that compare with an average month? Fernandez says that in February the LBPD handed out 864 cell-phone citations and 39 for texting; while in March the numbers were up to 1,073 and 72, respectively.
The Long Beach Post is awaiting comment from the LBPD on why the percentage jump between February and March was even greater than it was between March and April. We are also awaiting the May statistics.
Traffic Section Sgt. Doug Bender explains that the "focused distracted driving enforcement operations" mostly entail motorcycle officers being special detailed for distracted drivers for those two days. The reason that an operation like this cannot be continual is two-fold: extra officers cost money, and when an officer is special detailed, his or her focus is on the pertinent offenses to the exclusion of all others.
As Bender relates, "When
we're funded by [for example] the Office of Traffic Safety — say,
through a grant operation — that operation is paying for the officers."
Bender says that because of the dangers posed by motorists using handheld communication devices while driving — "Distracted driving does cause collisions," he says, "there's no doubt about that" — the Office of Traffic Safety is considering shifting its focus from the "Click it or Ticket" program — so successful that the seatbelt non-compliance rate has gotten very low toward a distracted-driving program.
While I have Sgt. Bender on the phone, I ask why the LBPD is not employing my so-obvious-it's-silly scheme to bust pertinent violators — namely, by sticking an undercover officer on a spot (say, on Ocean Boulevard, as I did one day during the Grand Prix) with a camera to clock offenders and a radio to hail a uniformed officer a half-mile or so away to stop the offending motorist and write the ticket. The only reason they don't do this, said the good sergeant, is not legal but logistical: too few officers to regularly employ a couple on such a specific detail. "It's staffing and funding," said Bender. "We could do that, but for practical purposes we haven't so far."
This photo, taken on June 2 by the author, is said by the author to depict a driver who is texting while driving down Ocean Boulevard.
Occasionally I'll read or write a text while waiting at a red light. Is that also illegal? I'd assume not. As soon as the light turns green I toss the phone in my passenger seat and continue at the next red light.
In 2010, TextKills launched a tour to rally college and high-school students against the dangers of TWD. Our team presented information to these students and encouraged each attendee to sign a promise to pay attention when driving. We also promoted a mobile application designed to help drivers resist the urge, and temptation, to engage in TWD. The TextKills blog (www.textkills.com) documented each stop along the way as the tour eventually found its way to the 2010 Distracted Driving Summit, hosted by the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. TextKills strongly believes that it is critical to direct its mission to the youth of this country, given the findings of a 2009 government study that found that the under-20 age group comprised the largest percentage, by age category, of distracted drivers.
During 2011, TextKills will continue to strive for a surge in pledges and media coverage so as to further spread its mission of safety, attention to road laws and mobile communications etiquette. The group's goal is to instill these principles into the next generation of drivers and smart device users, so that like taking the precaution of buckling up a seatbelt, undistracted driving and responsible mobile communications practices will no longer be just a dream, but rather a life-saving reality.
So I ask you, "Do you agree that texting while driving is a bad practice?"
DriveReplyâ„¢ for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android was designed to combat cell phone usage behind the wheel. It features customizable auto-replies and utilizes GPS technology to detect when your vehicle is in motion. It is feature rich and easy to use. Some of the features include personalization, customization of replies, cyber bullying protection with a no-reply list, and enhanced convenience and security with a unique My Drive 5 -- ringing a unique tone, if any of your significant persons try to reach you at a time when you should be focused on the road. Learn more at the website (www.drivereply.com).
Features:
• Safely monitor the a Smartphone's incoming calls and text messages while the vehicle is traveling at a rate of speed at or greater than 10-15MPH
• Provide customization in auto-reply messages for inbound calls and inbound text messages while the vehicle is in motion
• Provide personalized responses, so that a recipient would be identified by name in automated replies received
• Provide a No-Reply List (blacklist)for individuals that will not receive automated replies from the app user
• Provide a My Drive 5™ List (whitelist) for important individuals that user designates must get through with phone calls or text messages (to the user) in the event of a possible emergency
• Provide a passenger selection option, should the user be a passenger, rather than a driver, and desire to disable the auto-reply function of the app
• Provide a Battery Alert System to notify a driver that their battery is running low, so that the driver can safely pull over to plug the phone in to a charging system and maintain theDriveReply™ service
• DriveReply™ is available in English and Spanish language versions
I'm a big fan of new apps like Onmaway (http://www.OnmawayApp.com) that actually help by allowing users to automatically update friends, family, etc. with their location without having to touch their phone.
Brilliant stuff!