STATE POLICE

The Pennsylvania State Police, Troop M will conduct distracted driving enforcement details in Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks counties.

Members of the Pennsylvania State Police will be taking a zero-tolerance approach toward distracted driving violations.

These enforcement details will concentrate on enforcement activity involving the following Pennsylvania Vehicle Code Violations: texting while driving; handheld mobile telephone; prohibited use of hearing impairment devices; prohibiting text-base communications; careless driving; and/or reckless driving.

Distracted driving is defined as any activity which would divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of operating a motor vehicle. Distracted driving endangers the safety of drivers, passengers and bystanders and is one of the leading causes of crashes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, falling second to speeding.

According to the 2015 Pennsylvania Crash Facts and Statistics report from the Department of Transportation, distracted drivers were a contributing factor in 14,805 reportable crashed that occurred in Pennsylvania, resulting in 61 fatalities.

According to a media release from Pennsylvania State Police, nationwide, at any given moment, 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010. Distracted driving has become a deadly epidemic on highways across America. In 2014, 3179 people were killed and 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle collisions involving distracted driving. Ten percent of all teenage drivers in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the collisions.

Distracted driving is inherently dangerous and its often tragic consequences stand in stark opposition to the Pennsylvania State Police’s primary patrol objective of improving highway safety.