Milford PD's "U Drive. U Text. U Pay" Campaign Resulted in 236 Violations

Milford Police Department and Connecticut Highway Safety

Office team up to Kick off National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Connecticut Enforces “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” Statewide Crackdown

The Milford Police Department completed their Distracted Driving High Visibility Enforcement Campaign, which resulted in 236 violations that were addressed during the month of April 2016.

The Milford Police Department is partnering with the Connecticut Highway Safety Office as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month to crack down on drivers who choose to ignore Connecticut’s mobile phone laws.

The joint effort will span through the month of April, kicking off on April 4th and running through April 30th.

In 2014, an estimated 3,179 people were killed (10 percent of all crash fatalities) and an additional 431,000 were injured (18 percent of all crash injuries) in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. Last year, Connecticut drivers started to get the message as a result of this crackdown, and law enforcement wrote over 22,000 citations as part of last year’s effort to get drivers to put down their phones and pay attention to the road.

DOT observations conducted before and after last year’s crackdown showed a significant drop in hand held mobile phone use at selected enforcement locations. The observations showed a decrease in distracted driving from 9.6% before April 2015, to 7.8% in August 2015. This represents a 23 percent drop in phone use at the selected enforcement locations.

Fines for using a mobile phone while behind the wheel have not changed, though they are still steep. A first offense will cost $150, a second $300, and a third and subsequent offense $500.

The effort will ramp up again in August from the 3rd to the 16th . For more information about national distracted driving issues, visit www.distraction.gov  

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Submitted by Milford, CT

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