Law enforcement officers in Bergen County and across New Jersey will be actively enforcing distracted driving violations in April, part of the state’s “UDrive, UText, UPay” enforcement campaign.
Beginning April 1 and running through April 21, the high visibility law enforcement initiative will target motorists who engage in dangerous distracted driving behaviors such as talking on hand-held cell phones and sending text messages while driving.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office Division of Highway and Traffic Safety has doled out $1.07 million to 207 municipalities statewide to fund the campaign. In Bergen County, 28 municipal police departments received $5,500 grants, including Bergenfield, Closter, Harrington Park, Haworth Montvale, the Palisades Interstate Parkway, and Woodcliff Lake police departments.
Eric Heitmann, Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, points out that New Jersey is one of only four states nationally (along with Maine, Connecticut, and Oregon) to qualify for and receive dedicated federal grant funding to combat distracted driving.
“This is clearly one of the most critical traffic safety issues that we face today,” Heitmann said. “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2016 alone, 3,450 people were killed in distracted driving crashes and an estimated 391,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver.”
In New Jersey, driver inattention was listed as a contributing circumstance in 53 percent of the state’s crashes in 2016. Driver inattention was in fact listed as a contributing factor in crashes at a rate nine times higher than that of the next highest contributing factor (speed).
The campaign is being carried out during the month of April, which the National Safety Council has designated as Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The New Jersey campaign is modeled after similar successful high visibility enforcement programs such as “Click It or Ticket” and “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”
During the 2018 enforcement campaign, New Jersey law enforcement wrote 13,146 citations for cell phone use or texting and 5,697 for careless driving. The campaign also saw other offenses enforced, with state authorities reporting during the campaign: 6,538 and 5,712 citations for speeding and seat belt citations, respectively.
“It is estimated that more than 20,000 enforcement man-hours were worked during the campaign, which included 74 fixed distracted driving checkpoints,” the attorney general’s office said.
\In Bergen County, during the 2018 campaign, law enforcement from 70 police agencies also effected 79 driving while intoxicated (alcohol) arrests, 45 DWI (drug) arrests 580 seat belt violations, 45 child restraint violations and 486 speeding tickets, state data shows.