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Franklin Lakes police said they will be among the departments who, from April 8-13, will use "a combination of traditional and innovative strategies to crack down on motorists who text while driving."
A quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive, and 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving, according to a 2012 study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
The U Drive. U Text. U Pay. national campaign follows the successes of Click It or Ticket and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, which "have proven that the combination of tough laws, targeted advertising, and high-visibility enforcement can change people’s risky traffic safety behaviors," Franklin Lakes Police Lt. John Bakelaar said Tuesday.
In 2014, an estimated 3,179 people were killed (10% of all crash fatalities) and an additional 431,000 were injured (18% of all crash injuries) in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers the lieutenant said.
The risk of a crash or near-crash among novice drivers increases with each secondary task, including texting and dialing cell phones, studies have shown.
MORE: http://www.distraction.gov/
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