Local sheriff’s deputies issued more than 375 citations last month for distracted driving, a behavior that, according to the National Safety Council, killed 3,154 people nationwide in 2013.
April was Distracted Driving Awareness Month and local law enforcement, including deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and officers with the California Highway Patrol, began a crackdown on distracted driving.
“Our deputies issued more than 375 citations for illegal cell phone use,” Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff Station, said Wednesday.
The statistics work out to more than a dozen SCV motorists cited for distracted driving every day last month, on average.
The first week of Distracted Driving Awareness Month was also California Teen Safe Driving Week.
It also coincided with the 2019 Western States Teen Safe Driving Roundtable, organized by the National Transportation Safety Board, Impact Teen Drivers and the California Highway Patrol.
Transportation safety experts and teen advocates from throughout the nation participated in roundtable discussions at California State University, Sacramento.
Topics slated for discussion at the roundtable include improving traffic safety, community advocacy, and engaging parents and young adults.
To get their point across — the point being that distracted driving kills people — CHP officers in Sacramento took reporters on a ride-along so they can see firsthand how many drivers are texting and driving.
Each year, thousands of people are killed by distracted drivers and thousands more are injured.
According to the California Traffic Safety Institute, collisions caused by distraction occur daily throughout California. In 2013, there were 50 people killed statewide and nearly 4,000 people injured as a result of driver distraction.
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