FROM CPD

From April 10-15, 2014, the Clarkstown Police Department participated in the statewide selective traffic enforcement effort “ U Drive. U Text. U Pay.”

During this period the Department conducted selective traffic enforcement focusing on distracted driving and the use of cellphone/electronic devices in violation of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law Section. CPD cited 93 motorists for violation of these laws..

The Department joined law enforcement agencies across the State in cracking down on motorists who drive and text as part of this national “U Drive. U Text. U Pay” high-visibility enforcement campaign.

According to the latest data from NHTSA, nationwide in 2012, more than 3,328 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers, and approximately 421,000 people were injured.

Distracted driving is any activity that diverts a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety.

Because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarming distraction.

According to a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent of driving blind at 55-mph for the length of an entire football field.

According to another NHTSA study (the 2011 National Occupant Protection Use Survey on Driver Electronics Use), at any given daylight moment in 2011, an estimated 660,000 drivers were using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving.

According to NHTSA, the age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers is under age 20. Of this group, 11 percent of all drivers who died in a crash were reportedly distracted at the time of the crash.

New York prohibits all drivers from using portable electronic devices.

Illegal activity includes holding a portable electronic device and:

Talking on a handheld mobile telephone

Composing, sending, reading, accessing, browsing, transmitting, saving, or retrieving electronic data such as e-mail, text messages, or webpages

Viewing, taking, or transmitting images

Playing games

Exceptions to the Laws