Orangetown Police Join National Distracted Driving Crackdown

ORANGETOWN, N.Y. -- The Orangetown Police Department and others in the area will take part in the National U Drive. U Text. U Pay. awareness campaign April 8-13.

Thousands of people die every year in crashes related to distracted driving. That's why police are out looking for people who text while driving, and that's why they write tickets -- to save lives. Remember, U Drive. U Text. U Pay.

Photo Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_-6EoNhitg

The AAA Foundation for Traffic's research shows that distracted driving among teens is a bigger problem than anyone may have thought.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

K Reakes

04/02/2016 1:00 p.m.

During the campaign, police will be looking for distracted drivers, and writing tickets.

According to Distraction.gov, distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety. These types of distractions include:

Texting.
Using a cellphone or smartphone.
Eating and drinking.
Talking to passengers.
Grooming.
Reading, including maps.
Using a navigation system.
Watching a video.
Adjusting a radio, CD player or MP3 player.

Recent studies show that in 2014, 3,179 people were killed, and 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. In addition, 10 percent of all drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crashes. This age group has the largest number of drivers who were distracted at the time of the crashes.

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