The Los Angeles Police Department are adopting a ‘zero tolerance’ to all forms of distracted driving, including drivers who are caught talking or texting on their cell phones whilst operating a motor vehicle, throughout the month of April. Distracted Driving Awareness Month kicked off in the state of California in the United States at six o’clock this morning, with the Los Angeles Police Department teaming up with more than two hundred and twenty-five other agencies, including the California Highway Patrol, to clamp down on distracted driving offenders.
“We take the issue of distracted driving very, very seriously,” says Lieutenant Ron Katona of the Los Angeles Police Department. “The ongoing, irresponsible practice of drivers using their cell phones and texting has to stop.” “We just want drivers to use some common sense while they’re behind the wheel and focus on driving,” says Christopher J Murphy, the area’s Office of Traffic Safety director. “Think about the vast majority of calls and texts you send or receive every day. Were any really worth a crash, injury or death? It’s just not worth it.”
Cell phone use and texting while operating a motor vehicle have been shown to be a major factor in many crashes, including many fatalities and studies prove that texting while driving affects a driver’s reaction times in as detrimental a fashion as having a high blood alcohol level. Despite the evidence, however, drivers continue to break the law and some even maintain that the crackdowns are nothing more than revenue raising exercises.