Cambridge Police Department Joins Statewide Effort to Reduce Distracted Driving Crashes

Beginning this week, the Cambridge Police Department is partnering with more than 200 local Massachusetts law enforcement agencies and the Massachusetts State Police in a national U Drive, U Text, U Pay mobilization to crack down on texting while driving.  The campaign, which combines traditional and innovative enforcement strategies, will take place through April 28.  The initiative is funded by a grant administered by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Highway Safety Division (EOPSS/HSD) from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Officers will be conducting education and enforcement utilizing a variety of methods including on foot, on motorcycle and in cruisers, as well as working in teams to better observe violations.  Officers will be focusing on locations that have recorded high crash rates involving bicyclists and pedestrians.

Texting while driving was outlawed in Massachusetts in 2010.  Adult drivers who write, send, or read electronic messages or browse the Internet while driving face a $100 fine for a first offense – even if the vehicle is stopped in traffic.  Teen drivers under 18 are entirely prohibited from using mobile phones and other electronic devices while driving, including to make phone calls.  The fine for a juvenile first offense is $100, a 60-day license suspension, and required completion of a driver attitudinal course.

These costly violations underscore the danger inherent in distracted driving.  In 2014, across the United States, 3,179 people were killed and an additional 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.

“Distracted Driving is a major problem in Massachusetts, and we’re trying to keep the public safe by educating and enforcing violators,” said Deputy Superintendent Jack Albert of the Cambridge Police Department. “Texting and driving requires motorists to take their eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, and mind off the task of driving.  It can have dangerous consequences for the driver and those around them.”

A 2013 study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) found that any activity that diverts a driver’s eyes from the road for two seconds or more, such as texting or using a mobile device, increases crash risk by a factor of three.  This level of impairment is similar to driving drunk, with a blood alcohol concentration of .08.