Worcester Police Pause Distracted Driving Tickets During Campaign

Worcester MA

18 August, 2021

8:21 AM

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WORCESTER, MA — If you didn't learn about the new Massachusetts distracted driving law when it went into effect in early 2020, you have 30 days to brush up. Worcester police will pause handing out distracted driving tickets for the next 30 days during the "Eyes Up, Phones Down" education campaign, a joint effort between the Worcester County District Attorney and Worcester police. The state's new distracted driving law banned behavior like holding a cell phone while driving, and stranger things like eating and putting on makeup while driving. The local distracted driving education campaign was supposed to start in February 2020 when the law went into effect, but the campaign was put aside during the coronavirus pandemic. "Distracted driving is a community epidemic plaguing our roads and affecting us all," Worcester County DA Joseph Early Jr. said in a news release. "Avoiding distractions behind the wheel is about more than following the law. It is for the health and safety of yourself and others." To underscore the danger of distracted driving, Alyson Lowell, mother of Gabriella Lowell, appeared at a news conference on Tuesday. Gabriella was hit and killed by driver Tyler Hamilton in 2018 along Grafton Street. Hamilton was distracted by a text message when he hit Lowell, according to authorities. "Put down your phone and pay attention to the road because the reality of it is that you literally have another person's life in your hands when you are behind the wheel," Alyson Lowell said on Monday.