VANCOUVER POLICE REMIND DRIVERS OF THE DANGERS OF DISTRACTED DRIVING
Posted: July 12th, 2011 12:12 PM
On June 10, 2010 Washington cell phone and anti-texting laws were upgraded to a primary offense. That means law enforcement officers can pull over drivers they see talking on their cell phones without a hands-free device or texting and driving (the texting law is not a hands free law but a complete ban on texting and driving). The fine for both of these offenses is $124. Drivers with an instruction permit or intermediate drivers license are not permitted to use wireless devices at all, except in emergencies, as with any driver.
With summer underway and many younger drivers out of school and on the roads, the Vancouver Police Department reminds drivers of all ages and experience levels of the laws and the dangers of distracted driving. Here are some shocking statistics related to distracting driving according to the Washington State Department of Licensing:
* A driver talking on a cell phone is as impaired as a driver with a .08 blood-alcohol
level.
* A driver who is texting is as impaired as a driver with a .16 blood-alcohol level
(double the legal limit).
* Drivers talking on cell phones are half a second slower to hit the brakes in
emergencies and miss more than half the visual cues seen by attentive drivers.
Since implementation of the primary offense law, Vancouver Police have noted an increase in the number of citations issued both for violation of the hands free cell phone law and the texting and driving law. In 2010 there were 334 citations issued for cell phone and 44 for texting and driving. In 2009, prior to the primary offense upgrade, Vancouver Police issued 88 cell phone and 25 texting and driving citations.
Last year the Vancouver Police Department produced an educational PSA about the dangers of texting and driving. http://bit.ly/osehKV.
For more information on distracted driving visit the Vancouver Police Department on line at www.vanpolice.org.
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