Texting while driving is not only unsafe, it is illegal! On April 19, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety launched a campaign to put a stop to distracted driving. The campaign includes a variety of social media methods in an effort to reach young drivers, including messages that employ emoticons—those funny faces created by using keyboard symbols on phone or computer. The emoticons remind drivers: You text and drive… You see flashing lights…You get a ticket!
Minnesota drivers need to pay attention to this: State traffic safety officials and law enforcement agencies are launching a distracted driving education campaign on Thursday, April 19 which includes increased enforcement.
The effort, coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Office of Traffic Safety, will include ramped-up patrols from nearly 400 city and county agencies, partnering with the State Patrol. The campaign will encourage high school students to push anti-distracted driving messages through social media channels and at schools.
Driver distraction is a contributing factor in one-quarter of all Minnesota vehicle crashes annually— and resulting in 208 deaths and nearly 26,000 injuries in the last three years.
In Minnesota, it is illegal for drivers to read, compose or send texts/ emails, and access the Web on a wireless device while the vehicle is in motion or a part of traffic—even at a stoplight/stop sign, or stuck in traffic. It is also illegal for drivers under age 18 to use a cell phone at any time.
Distractions cause drivers to react more slowly to traffic conditions or events, such as a vehicle stopping or pulling out in traffic. A University of Utah study reports that using a cell phone while driving, whether handsfree or hand-held, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having an alcohol concentration level of 0.08 percent.
And when texting, drivers take their eyes off the road for up to 4.6 out of every 6 seconds—equivalent to traveling the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking up.
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